Harry Potter and the Full Metal of Amestris
by xpakux
Summary: After his attempt to save his brother and transporting himself years ahead of his time from Amestris into Munich, Germany, Edward Elric found himself a new job. Teaching at Hogwarts. But when has teaching ever involved destroying Horcruxes? Harry Potter x
1. Prologue

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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or Full Metal Alchemist (wish I did though... Ed's so kawaii!)

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A/N: Yeah, another crossover... But it's not another, "OMG! Ed's an exchange student!" story. Those are old...

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Prologue

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A dark night, clouds looming low and ominously as they drifted in the skies above. The twinkles of the stars were covered by the blanket of black velvet, the moon, although covered, still set off a soft white glow that pierced the gloom.

Some four hundred meters away from a familiar stone castle limped a huddled figure. Dirt was streaked across the stranger, rags were worn haphazardly, his shoulder-length hair was matted with dirt, sweat, and something that resembled the smell, color, and consistency of blood.

As the man limped across the dirt floor, roads and pavement nowhere in immediate sight, he leaned against a highly polished mahogany cane with silver tips at the ends that greatly contrasted the rest of his apparel. On the said cane were snakes engraved in an intricate pattern, looking as if they were twisting themselves around the wood as they climbed higher and higher. Deep green emeralds were encrusted where the eyes of the snakes should have been placed, and they gave off a surprisingly alive and almost... evil aura. On top of it all, at the very tip of the cane were a pair of twin wings, sitting on the sides of where the handle rested.

When the man came within a two hundred meter radius of the magnificent stone castle, complete with it's high towers, murky and foul-smelling moat, and grotesque gargoyles in the shape of boars, he felt some sort of force blocking his path. Immediately, he placed the hand, that wasn't tightly clutching the cane, inside of the sleeve of the opposite arm. He withdrew a 'wooden stick' to some, but to other's a wand that was splattered with blood and pulsated power.

With a swift flick of his wrist and the murmuring of the words that vaguely sounded like, "_Decom Scercia,_" a sort of dome-shaped shell giving off a smoldering radiance appeared to his eyes that would not be seen by other mortal men. Within seconds, a small hole about six yards in diameter began to dissolve in the shield, near where the man stood hunched over. Without wasting any more time, he stepped through the tear and continued walking towards the stony architecture. Behind him, the screen sealed itself back up again, and faded from sight.

When the man finally approached the main entrance to the castle, a stern-looking woman stood by the doors, with a fierce glint in her eyes, lips pressed into a thin line. When the man saw her, he removed his tattered top hat, and swept himself into an elegant bow with the agility of a much younger man (or perhaps one more refined in appearance) than he was.

The sign of courtesy almost seemed to be mocking, but if the woman noticed she made no comment to it as she ushered the man through the doors, and quickly scanned the outer area before she firmly shut the large wooden door behind herself.

She then began to walk briskly up several flights of stairs (being sure on the third one to skip the 27th step) and the man followed in the same hurried pace. She then came to an abrupt stop in front of a large stone gargoyle before whispering the words, "sugar quill". At first it seemed as though her words had done nothing, but in the matter of seconds the gargoyle seemed to have 'jumped' out of the way and revealed yet another set of stairs, although this particular flight seemed to have curled itself into a spiraling fashion before it reached the room that it lead to.

The old woman then continued up the twisting stairs, the man but two steps behind. Finally they reached a door that opened itself to reveal a circular room with a variety of rare objects and oddities sitting along shelves. An infamous and tattered old pointed hat sat atop a proper hat stand, and portraits of headmasters of the past were lined across the walls, the newest edition (A certain Albus Dumbledore) was busying himself with counting the number of vivid yellow stars embroidered on his bright purple robes.

After entering the room, the woman sat down on a grand chair with lavender cushioning, and a star and moon perched on the top. The man stayed standing (albeit hunched over) in front of the woman, under her watchful gaze.

The man was the first to speak.

"McGonagall, I have heard from my sources that your previous headmaster has recently passed away?" the man stated with a questioning tone lurking in his voice.

The woman looked down and a glint of distress crossed her eyes for a fleeting moment. She then laced her fingers together and placed her elbows on the desk in front of her that was covered in stacks and stacks of papers.

Hesitantly, she began speaking, "Yes, I'm afraid it's true..."

"Ah, such a shame. Dumbledore was a great man; he even helped old Flamel (bless his soul) with his research on..." but the man trailed off before his sentence was finished.

A moment of silence hovered though the office.

"Well, let's cut the chase and get straight to business before we start reminiscing about the past, shall we?" the man said, breaking the ice.

"Of course," McGonagall replied curtly, having snapped out of her dazed state.

"First off, why have you called me here tonight? I am a very busy person you know, I had to shift some appointments around in order to be present here at such short notice."

"Yes, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but the Aurors found a note on his desk when they were searching this room for a will or something of the sort. It had a rather long list of To-Do's, and I thought I'd do him a favor by helping complete it, but I digress. You see, in that list, it said to give you this letter."

As McGonagall said that, she had opened a desk drawer and took out a yellowed envelope. A royal purple seal closed it, and the crest of Hogwarts was stamped into the wax. The edges were worn and no longer held a sharp crease and the seal was off center, but all in all it carried an air of importance.

After she revealed, she handed it to the man who gave a nod of thanks before he opened it and began reading quickly.

As the man read the letter, a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face, and his eyes widened. He then blinked and folded the parchment and placed it in the envelope once more (which he tucked into a pocket on the inside of his long trench coat).

"Ah, of course..." he muttered to himself before turning to McGonagall, "Have you read this letter?"

"No, I assumed that the contents were confidential."

"Yes, yes, of course..." he said before trailing off again, a glazed look in his eyes. Soon enough he snapped back into reality.

"But the thing is, you as the new headmistress will need to be informed of parts of this letter, after all it has to do with a new subject in Hogwart's curriculum, and a new teacher. All from Munich of course... Yes, Hogwarts is going to have an interesting year with him around..."

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**Somewhere in Germany...**

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"ACHOO!" a blonde sneezed, before proceeding to have a violent fit of more sneezes.

"Bless you, Ed"

"Thanks Dad"

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A/N: Sorry, this one is short. Just a prologue though... Don't worry, the chapters will get longer...

Don't forget to Review! If you want to see my reasons, go to my other fic, _Finding What is Lost_, and read the Author's Note at the end. It'll be enlightening.

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	2. Escape

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Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN FULL METAL ALCHEMIST OR HARRY POTTER! STOP HARASSING ME YOU DAMN BUREAUCRATS! Okay, I'm kidding. Not all bureaucrats are evil.

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A/N: Okay, I know the times are wrong (FMA is based in 1919 WWI, when it started it was about the 1800's), but I need to alter things a bit. You'll find out more about my alteration, and how it happened and crap later.

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The skies were once again a clear blue, transformed from their previous murky gray. Pigeons flew from telephone line to telephone line, with the occasional and rare owl speeding past with an air of importance. All of the lawns along Privet Drive had perfectly manicured lawns; perfectly groomed flowerbeds, and perfectly spotless windows - number 4 was no exception. The only exception that the house carried is the fact that a green-eyed boy with messy black hair resided in its guestroom, and that boy (whose name turns out to be Harry Potter) also happens to be a wizard.

Now, Harry wasn't all that different from other boys his age. In fact, he was quite normal. He enjoyed sports, despised his homework, and was vastly annoyed at his Aunt and Uncle for locking him up in his room all summer long.

This was quite a difference from a time two years ago when he was allowed to wander the streets with no restraint, and his only fear was his cousin, Dudley, trying to start a fight with him here and there. Now, his relatives decided that cooping him up, away from the world, was a better decision.

However, Harry had other thoughts. One would suspect so seeing as his teen angst had bled through his pores, and left marks all over his room (this includes the textbooks that were thrown at the wall, the wall where there were dents from the textbooks, torn letters who's shreds were strewn randomly around the room, torn quills with broken tips, smashed ink bottles, and more).

Harry, however, was now attempting to clean his hazardous room… or perhaps tidy it up a bit. One might question why ("Who the hell cleans their room when they don't have too!"), but the answer laid on a single piece of parchment that was placed crookedly on his worn, wooden desk.

Dear Harry Potter,

It has come to my attention that the late Dumbledore wanted you to learn a branch of magic called Alchemy. Since he is no longer with us to teach you, he's requested in his will that you learn from another source. Professor Elric will be your tutor over the summer, and he will be teaching 6th and 7th years when Hogwarts is back in session. You have been invited to stay at the Weasley Residence for the remainder of summer break. Be prepared to be picked up 8:00 PM on the 28th of June. 

Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Headmistress

To Harry, this letter further confirmed that Dumbledore, the man he had looked up to the most, was really dead. It took him about 2 weeks after Hogwarts had let out for him to fully realize. He had seen Dumbledore's eyes close for the final time, he had been present at his Headmaster's funeral, but it had never really sunk in until this letter had come. Eventually Harry shook it off, and decided that there was really nothing he could do except move on. But still… the twinkle of Dumbledore's blue eyes would remainin his mind forever.

As Harry packed his last minute items (extra socks, textbooks that he'd left underneath floorboards, gloves, etc), his mind was still itching at this new subject that Dumbledore had wanted him to learn.

Alchemy.

Really, Harry had almost no idea what this 'Alchemy' was. The most he had heard of it was from his first year when he read his Chocolate Frog card about Dumbledore. He also remembered how nothing seemed to come up about Flamel (who was an alchemist) in the school library. Of course he had heard about alchemy, such as transforming lead to gold, but ever since he started his first year at Hogwarts, he knew better than to judge anything magical or out of the ordinary by muggle standards.

The clock hanging askew on this cheaply painted, off-white walls read 7:58 at the moment. In about 2 minutes he'd be out of this hellhole and off to see his best mate.

Suddenly, Harry began to wonder who would pick him up. On second thought, he began wondering _how_ would they pick him up? Perhaps it'd be like his fifth year where a mess of Aurors would come get him. After all, the Dursleys were out of the house at some parent teacher conference because of Dudley's failing grades at Smelting. Harry had always thought that Dudley would just beat up some poor bookworm, and force him or her to do his work, but then again, Dudley wasn't too smart.

The minute hand of the clock snapped forward one rung, and it now read 7:59.

Harry frowned. Something important was missing. Soon enough, the thought came back to him as he dashed to get his wand from one of the 'secret compartments' in his room (which was actually just a hole located and hidden behind the head board of his bed).

Finally, with his trunk in one hand, and Hedwig's cage in another (His wand was in his back pocket), he deemed himself completely ready for whoever was going to come.

It was now 8:00. His insides squirmed uncomfortably. "What's coming?" was the question that ran through his mind. While he began to contemplate all the different what if scenario's he could think of, the clear 'dings' of the doorbell echoed eerily throughout the house.

Harry automatically ran towards the door, but had a nasty shock when he found that it was locked. He had forgotten about that. This summer, his Uncle decided it best to install a long series of locks and bolts onto his door.

Wishing with all his heart that he could just whip out his wand and cast an '_Alohamora_' charm at the moment, but knowing if he did, he'd be arrested, Harry settled with opening his window (Vernon never remembered to remount the iron bars that went across them).

"I'm over here! The muggles locked my door!" Harry yelled, but tried to keep it at a minimum so the other neighbors wouldn't hear.

"Ah," was the only reply that the 'Chosen One' heard, but he was sure it was more rhetorical than anything else.

Harry really wasn't too worried. Magic could easily get him out of Number 4, Privet Drive, so he just sat down on his bed and waited for whoever was sent for him to spell open the door, and come get him.

Suddenly the word, "Jump!" floated through his window.

The boy pulled a face of confusion, and once again leaned out his window. Sure enough there was a person there, it just happened to be a boy about his age with blonde hair and sporting a long red jacket.

"What?" Harry yelled back.

Was this person insane? Jump out of his window, and fall about 50 feet? I don't think so!

"I said JUMP!" the blonde bellowed, emphasizing the 'jump' part.

"You're insane!"

"Just jump!"

"I'll die!"

"Then use your freaking broom for crying out loud!"

A moment of silence.

Harry hit his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"_Of course,_"he thought,"_Why didn't I think of that?_"

He then opened his worn crimson trunk, and dug out his beloved Firebolt. It was wrapped in a layer of toilet paper (the only thing he could find to cushion it), and as he unpeeled it, a sense of excitement spread through his body from his core to his fingertips.

Harry then rezippered his trunk, and put the front end of his broom through the trunks looped handle so he didn't have to carry the thing while he was flying. Hedwig's cage on the other hand was clutched tightly in his fist, knowing that if he were to put it on the broom, it might slip since it was metal.

Harry once again leaned out the window and shouted to the blonde, "But what if someone sees? I'd get arrested!"

"Do you really think that the ministry would try and get rid of the only person who can save their asses from Voldemort?"

"… Good point," Harry replied.

He then mounted the broom and flew down. When his feet brushed the ground, he hopped off of it, and held it tightly in his fist. Harry then transferred the trunk into the hand that was holding Hedwig's cage.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Edward," was the curt response.

The blonde began walking swiftly towards a streetlight as soon as Harry seemed about ready and composed. Harry followed quickly, struggling slightly to keep up due to his heavy luggage.

As Edward was walking in front of him, Harry took the time to examine his escort.

Blonde hair in a single braid, amber eyes, red jacket with a strange symbol adorning the back (snakes?), black clothing underneath the coat, and black combat boots. The muggle clothing was a little too well matched for a wizard, so he began having suspicions in the back of his mind. But the most noticeable thing that Harry saw was his companion's height…

…Or lack of.

Before the 'Chosen One' could think, he said out loud, "Wow, you're really short."

And Harry meant it. Edward couldn't have been taller than five feet, but he didn't really mean to actually announce it. Before he could start apologizing the blonde just said, "I know!" with a smile and continued walking.

When they reached the lamppost, the blonde pointed to an old boot that lay at the base of the pole, and then said, "Portkey."

Harry nodded and began leaning over, but right before his fingers could brush the leather surface of the shoe, he heard a cracking sound. His head spun to face the origin of the noise and there he saw another blonde man that looked almost identical to Edward, who was standing next to the portkey. The difference between them was that the newly arrived one appeared older and wearier. Random gray hairs appeared his hairline, and he was also taller (obviously), but not by much. Really, the two could pass as fraternal twins.

Harry was about to ask him, who are you, but right as he opened his mouth, the older blonde did as well.

"Hello Envy. I never thought I'd see you again."

Harry turned towards Edward who was turning towards the new arrival. An eerie smirk adorned his face.

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TBC

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A/N: Like I promised, this one was longer. The previous one was 5 pages, this one is 7. Sorry it took so long, I had a bad case of writer's block, but that's not really a good excuse.

I was real amazed at all the reviews I received from the first chapter. I mean, I have a Naruto series, which I've been working on for 2 months, and that one didn't have even half the amount of popularity as this one did. Whew! I just hope I don't disappoint anyone.

Please review, and to those who did in the first chapter, Thank you from the bottom of my heart.


	3. Battle and Remus' female troubles

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A/N: Just to let you people know, I tolerate no yaoi. I'm sorry to those of you who worship EdxEnvy or EdxRoy. Seriously, I just can't stand yaoi… it's just… gross. I mean, there's Adam and there's Eve. Eve is NOT Steve. Steve and Adam do NOT go together! Sorry, I'm an unshakable Christian (don't worry, nothing super religious is going to be incorporated into this series) so yeah, NO YAOI! Roy goes with Riza, that's the only pairing I have, but it's not a main point.

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Recap:

_"Hello Envy. I never thought I'd see you again."_

_Harry turned towards Edward who was turning towards the new arrival. An eerie smirk adorned his face._

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Suddenly, Edward's hair started getting longer and darker, his skin became paler, and if Harry looked closely, he could see that his eyes changed color too. In the end after this metamorphosis, Edward became an entirely different person.

"Y-You're a metamorphmagus!" Harry stuttered, pointing towards Edward, but was Edward really his name? Was it Envy? That's what the blonde seemed to call him.

Well, whatever his name was, Envy and the blonde ignored Harry's comment.

"Hello Full Metal pipsqueak," Envy said with a mocking smile, "My, it seems as if you've shrunken."

The blonde narrowed his eyes considerably, and bit his lower lip, hands formed into fists.

"You bastard! I thought I got rid of you at the Gate!" the older man yelled with a finger pointed accusingly at Envy.

"Oh, tsk tsk pipsqueak. If you keep going on like that, I'll begin to think that you didn't miss me…" Envy drawled, but he never got the chance to finish his sentence since the blonde made some sort of glowing blue light and his arm transformed into a metal sword.

Harry's eyes widened. Was this some sort of Transfiguration spell that he didn't know about?

The blonde then charged at Envy, and swung the blade in a sweeping motion near his throat. Envy nimbly dodged by leaning backwards and retaliated with a jab to the blonde's face. The older man recoiled slightly- Envy saw an opening in his defense and began to throw a flurry of punches at him, alternating hands.

The blonde blocked the blows with his sword, but the force of the hits caused him to be pushed back, but prior to him being backed into a wall, he performed a dive before he rolled over on the ground, and aimed a sweeping kick at Envy's feet. Envy again dodged by jumping, but while his feet were in the air, the blonde laid a heavy blow towards his stomach and it made contact with a sickening crunch. Envy was thrown back several paces, and before he got up, the blonde stomped his foot onto the longhaired man's chest. Envy roughly coughed up blood.

"What are you doing here," the older man said with biting venom in his voice.

Before he got an answer, Envy grabbed his ankle and slammed him firmly into he concrete.

"I'd say the question is what _you_ are doing here, Edward!" Envy said in an amused tone.

The newly named Edward was frankly, not amused and a scowl adorned his face before he sprang back up in a graceful arch and swung a roundhouse with his left leg at Envy. Envy easily caught Ed's foot, and proceeded to twisting it harshly and snapping it.

The thing is, the snap didn't sound like the time that a bludger hit his arm in Second Year, in fact it sounded more like when Dudley was throwing a tantrum and threw his brand new computer out his window (Harry was referring to the crashing sound it made when it landed on the lawn below and his aunt had to go outside to pick up the pieces while enduring stares from passing neighbors).

Edward fell to the ground on his knees, while Envy advanced on him. Just as he was about to give the final hit that would kill, Edward clapped his hands together and a flash of blue light was emitted. Harry's eyes closed due to the brightness. After the radiance died down, Harry opened his eyes again to see Envy trapped in a stone cage.

Harry gaped in awe, but at the same time Envy easily punched through the bars and freed himself.

Envy continued to walk towards Edward with a menacing (not to mention downright creepy) smile on his face.

When Envy came within a two-foot radius of Edward, Harry finally came to his senses and ran towards the other two men in hopes of attempting to stop the fight, but he really did not know whom to help. Envy was the one that came for him, but Edward was the one that he had impersonated.

Halfway there, a whole mess of cracking sounded off like a bag of popcorn in a microwave on high after 3 minutes. Harry stopped abruptly and spun on his heel to see who it was.

There, about 10 feet away from Harry, was a fleet of Order members (Shacklebolt, Tonks, Moody, Remus, etc). Harry then looked back to where Envy and Edward were, but only saw the blonde laying there.

Remus immediately ran over towards Harry, while the rest rushed to where Edward was laying unconscious on the sidewalk.

The popping noises seemed to have attracted attention from the neighbors. Various heads were stuck out of kitchen windows to peer at the scene, and what a strange one it must have been.

About 7 people (including grown men) wearing 'dresses' of multiple colors, carrying wooden 'sticks', and a blonde man lying on the sidewalk covered in bruises and blood.

"Damn, the Ministry is going to have a field day with this! We'll be hearing '_Obliviate_' until we retire!" a brunette witch complained as she threw her hands into the air.

Her eyes scanned the neighborhood before they finally landed on Harry.

"By George! It really is Harry Potter!" she squealed before rushing up to him, and shaking Harry's hand vigorously.

"Now, now Sarah, don't get too excited," Remus said in an exasperated tone, while patting Sarah on the back lazily.

Suddenly Tonks, brushed past him roughly with an irritated look. After giving Remus a heated glare, she announced that she was leaving, and with a pop, she was gone.

Everyone stared.

"Er…" Remus began while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly and sincerely not knowing what to do and wondering what he had done that was so bad that it'd upset his girlfriend.

A blonde witch with her hair in pigtails swiftly walked up to him, and gave him a firm slap in the face prior to Apparating away huffily.

Everyone continued staring.

"What? What did I do?" he asked desperately, now rubbing his soon-to-be swollen cheek.

Shacklebolt rubbed the bridge of his nose exasperatedly, while Moody shook his head in disapproval.

"What?" he asked again in panic.

Edward, though battered, stood up gingerly and walked towards Remus. When he was standing next to him, Ed put his hand on Remus' shoulder.

"You screwed up, mate," the blonde commented, also shaking his head in disapproval much like Moody.

Remus looked as if he were a gaping goldfish with no water. In the background Moody and Shacklebolt commented to each other about how clueless Lupin was.

"Come on boys, let's get to the Weasley's now." Edward said.

"Wait," Harry suddenly said after being momentarily distracted by the whole Lupin-Tonks charade. "Who was that man that Edward was fighting? His name was Envy wasn't it?" asked Harry, looking intently towards Ed for an answer.

Potter recoiled slightly. Edward's fists were shaking, and shadows hid his eyes from view. At first Harry thought that the blonde was about to yell at him, but he was saved when Moody said, "We'll explain when we get to the Weasley's."

"Okay…" Harry began, "Wait! I can't Apparate yet!"

"Really, you can't?" Shacklebolt commented.

"Well, I know how, but I'm not allowed to because I wasn't old enough when they held the tests…"

"Oh, I see. Then you can Side-Along with me. Come over here," Remus said while gesturing towards himself.

Right as they were about to all 'pop' to the House of the Red Hair, a tawny barn owl flew by and dropped a letter into Moody's hands before it flew away in the night sky. Alastor sighed heavily before opening the important looking envelope and read the contents silently.

"What is it?" Harry asked with the curiosity of a cat that had been run over several times, and still managed to live after each encounter.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with Harry," was Remus' curt response before counting to three.

A tube and a crack later, the entire gang opened their eyes to see the Burrow sitting peacefully (with colored smoke coming out of random windows, several explosions were heard here and there) on a grassy hill. Several chickens bobbed their heads as they waddled around the base of the house. The layers of the Burrow were stacked haphazardly, and Harry was very sure that magic was the only way that the structure could be standing.

Still, it was a very nice house, and that was proven when Harry stepped inside and the motherly Mrs. Weasley told him that he's not eating enough and force-fed him fifth and sixth helpings of whatever she was cooking in the kitchen (the food was very good, so Harry did not complain).

The atmosphere in the Burrow was cozy, and inviting. The people were friendly, and in Mr. Weasley's case, curious. Ron was happy to see Harry (obviously), and was excited to show him his new poster of the Chudley Cannons. When Ginny saw him, well, let's just say that Ron pushed Harry away (very angrily and red faced) before anything _too_ passionate happened.

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TBC

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A/N: THIS IS GOING TO BE A VERY LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Suppo. I LOVE all the reviews that I've received! I really like long ones especially. Please review!

Also, I'd like to say that I pride myself in actually doing research before I write any story. When I started this series, I saw episode 51 of FMA, and though that was it, but it wasn't. There was still the Movie to watch, and I only saw after I posted the second chapter. So now I'm hitting myself on the head continuously, hoping that my readers will forgive me. I try to be as accurate as possible. Seriously I do (I'm rereading the entire Harry Potter series too). Oh, by the way, does anyone now how to spell 'metamorphmagus'? I mean, I'm not sure if it's right cause I can't find my fifth book at the moment.

Also, the reason why I wrote this series is because I was tired of reading all the inaccurate FMAxHP crossovers out there. Some are very good, but still, not accurate. Most are OOC though. I mean, Edward would NOT spill his entire life story to people he met about 10 seconds ago. Seriously, and there's also the element of Edward needing to be more discreet. Yeah, I'll ramble more in the next chapter. But for now, the 3rd chapter is complete!


	4. Discussing Envy

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Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist or Harry Potter. The closest thing I can get to owning them is to buy the books.

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A/N: I'm not sure if Edward has seen Envy in his original form, so I guessed. Sorry if I'm wrong. You probably have no clue what I'm talking about right now... Whatever. If I am wrong though, please leave a review and tell me, 'kay? Please and thank you!

Common question: **HOW OLD IS EDWARD ELRIC IN THIS FANFICTION?**

Answer: 26. I wrote that he had gray hairs because you get gray hairs from stress and lack of sleep. He's still young, but I didn't want him to be a teenager because… well, that's a secret.

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Ch.3

Discussing Envy

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After a warm (and late) supper, the group that had been present at Privet Drive gathered at a round wooden table to discuss the actions of that night. Tonks was still glaring at Remus half-heartily, but other than that, everyone was in a rather good mood seeing as they were in a warm environment with their stomachs full and pant zippers feeling uncomfortably snug.

Harry began.

"So who was that metamorphmagus?" he asked, gazing intently into the eyes of all who were sitting.

A silence settled, as all attention shifted to the blonde.

"That wizard's name is Envy," Edward answered solemnly, "And yes, he is a shape-shifter."

"Then why was he after me? Is he working for Voldemort?" Harry questioned, intent and panic growing in his voice.

"Actually, we're not sure yet," Shacklebolt interjected, "since he doesn't bear the Dark Mark, but after the attack tonight, we're almost ready to confirm it."

"What else has he done?" Harry asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Well, Envy has been involved with some pretty big conspiracies against the Ministry," Shacklebolt said and then turned towards Moody, "Remember? Back in '34 he morphed himself into one of the underdogs for Grindelwald, and massacred a fourth of the Order of Merlin, but only second class."

Harry looked around he room at everyone else's faces. Surprisingly, Edward's expression contained that of confusion and surprise. Harry was confused. Ed was the one that seemed to know the most about Envy...

Suddenly a new person entered the room. He was a middle-aged man, with graying hair and a balding spot on the top of his head.

Harry immediately tensed as the stranger conjured a wooden chair and sat next the Kingsley. Remus put his hand on Harry's shoulder to reassure him that this man was trustworthy.

The newcomer began to speak. "Ah, I remember that. Was a giant pain in the ass for me; all that paperwork…" he said refering to Kingsley's words, but paused suddenly.

A glazed look filmed over his eyes as if he was reminiscing, but a jerky shudder shook him out of it. Harry stared, but in a second's time, the man spotted him and his scar.

"Merlin's beard, you're Harry Potter!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I think I know what my own name is, thanks," Harry replied crisply.

"Sorry, standard for you to hear that isn't it? Must get annoying."

"You have no idea," Harry said darkly, "So, what else about Envy?"

"Well, in 1921, before my time, he disguised himself as an Unspeakable to try and steal some sort of mirror from the Department of Mysteries. Never did find much about the mirror though... something about dimension hopping was what I heard from Bode," Tonks continued, "Anyways, that's enough of his history. Hopefully you get the gist that he's not a very pleasant man... woman... whatever."

Edard began laughing.

Everyone stared.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Ed continued; tears were beginning to leak out of the corners of his eyes.

"Mate, what's so funny?" Remus asked, looking at the blonde with concern.

"Ahaha! I can't believe you just said that Tonks!" he replied, having calmed down slightly, but a chuckle was still evident in his tone.

"Oh, that reminds me," Tonks began again with a serious voice, "I'm don't think Envy is a metamorphmagus."

"What?"

"Yeah, metamorphmagi aren't supposed to be able to change their gender."

Suddenly a jumble of voices gathered, all giving different opinions about the topic that Tonks had just raised

"Maybe he's had some sort of birth defect?"

"What if he's a special sort of metamorphmagi?"

"Perhaps he used a spell along with it?"

"He might not even be a metamorphmagus, he could have just used a Polyjuice Potion!"

A stony cold voice cut through the suggestive chatter.

"Nah, you can't control when Polyjuice wears off. Envy, however, can revert back to his original form at will, if that is his original form that is," Edward said, answering the last statement.

"Well, then what is he? You seem to know a bunch about him. Enlighten us," the blonde witch with pigtails said hotly. She seemed to be peeved at him for some unknown reason.

"The information I have about him is strictly confidential between Dumbledore and I," said Edward coolly, "If you want to know, dig up his grave and ask him."

The pig-tailed woman snorted, great dislike evident in her eyes.

By now, Harry was really curious. What did Edward know about Envy? Whywasn't he telling us? We're were working with him, not against; he should be able to trust us!

Harry was a bit moody now, and a sullen looked crossed his face. Ever since his fifth Year at Hogwarts, he has been having issues about trust.

An awkward silence had fallen upon the group. Harry heard small coughs, clothes rustling, and fingers tapping against the wooden table every once in a while. Surprisingly, it was Edward who broke the quiet.

"So, Harry, I guess I'm your private tutor this summer, eh?" he stated with a grin.

Needless to say, Harry was shocked.

"WHAT?" he yelled as he jumped out of his chair and pointed an accusing finger at Professor Elric.

"I'm going to be your private tutor over the summer," he said again with the same grin.

"I know _that_, b-but I was expecting someone more..." Harry's sentence trailed off.

What would he say? That he had expected an old graying man who was insanely powerful, knew hidden arts, and was boring? No, of course he couldn't! Especially now that he'd seen how short his professor is and how young he is!

But... he did fight amazingly in that dual against Envy.

"More what?" Edward asked, his smile quickly disappearing.

"Well... I was expecting someone...er, perhaps... older? Taller?"

Something snapped.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIECE OF PLANKTON SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE IT WITH A MICROSCOPE!" Elric screeched in reply.

He then stood up abruptly and attempted to attack Harry, but Moody grabbed onto the back of his red coat and held him back.

"You see, it's not wise to comment on Mr. Elric's height. He's a bit sensitive about it," Tonks whispered into Harry's ear.

Harry glanced back at Professor Elric. He was throwing wild punches and kicks at Moody in vain, seeing as Moody could stop him in his tracks with one hand. Finally the blonde was tuckered out, sighed, and sat back down with his arms crossed and a vein throbbing at his temple.

Harry turned towards Tonks.

"A little sensitive?" he commented with disbelief.

"Well, okay. Maybe a LOT sensitive." She said with an air of lightness, and shrugging her shoulders.

Harry stared with bewilderment at her.

At the same time, most of the witches and wizards were chuckling lightly at Professor Elric's reaction to a remark about his shortness. The blonde witch was keeling over in her seat with her hand over her mouth in a vain effort to try and hide her giggling.

"SHUT UP!" Edward yelled. Most quieted down, but the witch with the pigtails continued to snigger, but in a calmer manner.

He then turned to Harry. "So, are you looking forward to having me as a teacher?" Edward asked with an insane smirk on his face.

"Er..." Harry began, feeling very uncomfortable.

He was saved. Another man, this time young with dirty blonde hair and light brown eyes, came into the room and said, "Mrs. Weasley told me to tell you guys to go to bed, or else..." he trailed off with a look of slight fear in his eyes.

Everyone got the message, and the scraping of chair legs against the floor sounded simultaneously. Edward, however, stayed seated

"Harry, this is my younger brother, Alphonse," Edward said,andgestured towards the other blonde man.

"Hi," Harry said awkwardly.

"Hello, It's nice to meet you," Alphonse replied with a smile, "but please,call me Al."

"Er, okay…" Harry said.

Harry then walked out of the room, but right before the door closed he heard Edward say, "Envy's back." Immediately, Harry let the door close, but then pressed his ear to the door in hopes of hearing this conversation.

"But didn't he die at the Gate?"

"Nah, I thought he did, but apparently he's been causing trouble for the wizarding world under our nose. It's weird though, why didn't we hear anything about this earlier. Stuff like that should have been put in the newspaper. I mean, the massacre of the members of the Order of Merlin!"

"Maybe this was restricted information?"

"Well, then how did Tonks hear about it? She's pretty low in the Auror ranks."

"Perhaps she heard it through gossip? But Bode wasn't exactly talkative when he was alive, was he?"

"Nah, not at all."

Harry heard silence for a few moments.

"Well, if Envy's here, do you think he might of found someone to recreate the other Sins?"

"Probably, but if he has, then they've been laying low or working behind the scenes for a while."

Another pause of silence

"Well, older brother, I heard that you're going to be a teacher soon!"

"Yeah, that's old news now, but I guess you've just found out."

Harry heard laughter

"I just hope you aren't going to be as hard on him as Teacher was on us!"

"Nah, wizards seem to be weak physically. They rely too heavily on spells, and don't prepare themselves for when they don't have their wands with them."

"True."

"So I was thinking to have him study textbooks for a month, and teach him some martial arts since the only reason the boy is learning Alchemy is to battle Voldemort."

"I see..."

Harry backed away from the door. He could still hear faint chattering from beyond it.

He was learning Alchemy only to fight Voldemort? In his mind, he always knew that, but something about the way they had worded it made it sound like the only reason that people took notice of him was because of Voldemort.

_"But it's true isn't it? No one would notice you if you didn't have that scar on your forehead... not one would care_," came a nagging voice inside his head.

"No, that's not right," Harry thought quickly, "Ron, Hermione, Professor Dumbledore..."

"_They only stay by your side because you're their little 'savior'. Admit it, you _love _the attention. You just _love_ the fact that everyone cares about the famous Harry Potter."_

"No! That's not true! I didn't ask for this! I didn't want my parents to die! I just want to live a normal life!"

"_Do you?" _the voice said before it echoed and faded away.

Harry, who was previously leaning against a corridor wall, had now slid down and was sitting on the floor; his face pointed towards the ceiling. He gave a slight exhale as he hoisted himself back up gingerly, and began to stalk off in a sullen mood.

o-0-O-0-o

Somewhere in Voldemort's Hideaway 

o-0-O-0-o

"Good Snape," a cold voice said lazily, "My little spy, using Occlumency against him... how ironic. You are dismissed," a pale hand gestured for the man in front of him to leave.

"Yes, my Lord," the man said before bowing.

Snape then proceeded to backing away towards the door. Once he had closed it behind him, his lips twisted into a smirk.

TBC

o-0-O-0-o

A/N

o-0-O-0-o

Yo, again, EDWARD IS 26! You might think, 'Well in the movie he was still 16, but that was during WWII', and I say I have a logical reason for him being 26 in this fiction, but it's part of the story plot so you'll have to be patient and find out later! Remember, I don't like making too many things up as I go. I prefer to be completely cannon, but at some points I have to twist facts. I'm going to feel so sad when the seventh book comes out and this will all be AU…. T.T

And yes, SPOILER ALERT Alphonse is back in his original body because that's how he ends up at the end of the movie. No, his eyes are not gold; they are a light umber or a dark hazel. In the two worlds, one is of Alchemy and the other has Magic and Science. The one I am basing my story in is the Magic and Science one. Almost everything about the two worlds and age and stuff will be explained in the later chapters.

**Don't forget to review**! 'Cause if you don't, I won't write! Sayonara for now!


	5. Chess and an Awkward Moment

o-0-O-0-o

A/N: Okay, I really don't like my previous chapter. There are so many spelling errors and things that aren't correct. For example, I said 'Occlumency' instead of 'Legilimency', and I spelled Edward's name wrong a few times, and some spaces were missing, and other stuff…. T.T…. I'm sorry, don't hurt me. Hopefully this one will be better.

Oh and by the way. I'm completely B.Sing the entire chess thing.

o-0-O-0-o

That night Harry tossed and turned in his sleep. His dreams were once again filled with memories of Dumbledore's death, Sirius falling gracefully through the veil, and Cedric's eyes; wide, unblinking, dead. Voldemort's chalk white face and red eyes stalked through his dreams and turned them into gut-wrenching nightmares.

In the morning he woke up with his blankets twisted uncomfortably around his legs, a thin coat of cold sweat caused his night clothes to stick to him awkwardly, and a slight head cold gave him a headache and a small cough to boot. Also, it didn't help that Ron too, was grumpy since he was kept awake due to Harry's nighttime chats with himself.

After a minute or two of just sitting upright in their beds and not moving or talking in a dazed unblinking state, they heard a knock on the door. Bill, who had been sent to wake them up and call them down for breakfast, walked in. Groggily, Harry and Ron got out of their warm and soft beds and changed into their day clothes; not even bothering to make their beds or fold their pajamas (which they decided to toss in a heap on the floor).

Last night, Harry had been itching to tell Ron all he heard from the meeting, but was highly disappointed to find his best mate already sleeping soundly. So instead he decided to wait until breakfast was over when they had planned to play wizards' chess.

"So, what did they keep you up with last night? I wanted to play a round of Exploding Snap before bed, but I fell asleep," Ron said sheepishly, "Knight to E-5."

"Er, yeah, that. You know that blonde guy with long hair, Edward Elric?"

"Mm hm, who doesn't? He's the one who always starts screaming bloody murder every time someone calls him short-" Suddenly Harry heard something that sounded like a mixture between a strangled gurgle and a yell along the lines of 'WHO ARE YOU A CALLING A RUNT SO SMALL THAT AN ANT WOULD LOOK DOWN ON HIM?'

"What about him?" Ron muttered while his eyes were concentrated heavily on his bishop, and he seemed to have either ignored the screech or thought it was absolutely normal.

"You know that he and his brother are Alchemists right?"

"Mm Hm," Ron mumbled, "Are you going to move sometime this century?"

"What?" Harry asked, blatantly confused.

"It's your turn," Ron said plainly, gesturing to the board.

The little pieces had begun to yell rather rude comments to Harry, but he hadn't notices until just now, due to his thoughts always drifting towards the mysterious subject of Alchemy every few seconds.

"Sorry mate. Er…" Harry looked at the chessboard with a puzzled expression, "Rook to C-6."

Many different outbursts came from the chess pieces once again ("Don't send me! Can't you see his bishop? Send _him_, we can afford to lose _him_," the rook had said, pointing to a pawn on the far side of the board).

"Ron, have you ever thought about Muggle chess?"

"Hm…" Ron mumbled, "not really; Bishop to F-6."

"Well, you know how Professor Elric is going to be tutoring me?"

"Mh hm… wait, WHAT?" Ron exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the board (some of the pieces began making rude gestures many were knocked out of place).

"Yeah, anyways, do you know anything about Alchemy?" Harry had asked since Ron came from a pureblood family and he might have heard something over the years, "All I remember about it is that Nicholas Flamel was an Alchemist; the Philosopher's Stone and everything."

"No, sorry," Ron admitted, turning red with embarrassment, "I mean, it's been mentioned a few times in the Order meeting (Er, I bought some of those Extendable Ears from Gred and Forge… I mean, Fred and George), but nothing big. I mean, the most I know about it is that you take stuff, draw a circle, and turn it into other stuff. Kind of like Transfiguration I guess."

"Then why wouldn't McGonagall teach Alchemy?"

"I dunno.

"It's because although they're similar, the art is completely different," a crisp voice sounded from beyond the closed door.

"Huh?" the boys said in unison, both of their heads had snapped to face the door.

It then opened to reveal Hermione in all her frizzy glory, although her hair had been straightened slightly so it was now more of a tight curl.

"Hermione!" Ron exclaimed and made a movement to stand up, but suddenly his face turned scarlet and he seated himself once more.

"Anyways," Hermione continued (she had also turned red for a moment), "Alchemy is different from Transfiguration, most definitely. With Transfiguration we can just turn anything into anything else, but Alchemy needs 'Equivalent Exchange'," At this point she held her hands up and made small air quotations, "I read it in Beginners Alchemy. Fascinating book, really. I'm half done memorizing it, but…" she turned to see the looks on the boys' faces, and was met with blank stares.

"Hermy," Ron said using Grawp's nickname for her, "you're making me feel bad. I haven't even been to Diagon Ally yet. Wait, the new book list came?"

"Yep, just this morning."

"Isn't that a bit early? They usually come closer to July..." Harry commented to himself

"You were here that early?" Ron asked in disbelief, ignoring what Harry had said.

"You two were too much of dunderheads to even notice I came," she said coolly.

Suddenly the trio froze with sudden remembrance of their ex Potions Professor.

Snape…

Harry felt as if his insides were burning, and his fingers twitched, longing to wrap them around Snape's throat.

Hermione noticed her mistake and changed the subject hastily.

"So, I heard from Tonks that you're going to be getting private lessons with Professor Elric over the summer!" Hermione said with a slight squeal, "I'm so jealous! Think of all the different things he will be teaching you! And you get three extra months too! When we get back to Hogwarts you are going to be so ahead!"

Harry blanched against Hermione's rambling.

"Er, Hermione…"

"Yes?" She said, turning towards Harry; eyes shining with excitement.

"You might want to calm down before- ACK!" Harry shouted.

Apparently, Crookshanks found this the most pleasant time to latch his claws into Harry's leg.

Ron had jumped backwards, shocked by Harry's unexpected yell; Hermione also recoiled in surprise, but when she realized what was happening, she lurched forward and attempted to pry Crookshanks off of Harry.

Suddenly the door burst open and in ran Professor Elric who was clad only in a towel tied haphazardly around his waist and bright pink soap bubbles in his hair; unbound from his usual braid or ponytail.

"What's wrong?" he commanded in a stern voice, his eyes scanning the room.

Everyone had fallen silent. Even Crookshanks had let go of Harry to stare quizzically at the blonde with large green eyes.

A moment or two passed with them just staring at Professor Elric, and vice-versa before…

"Eek!" Hermione squeaked before proceeding to blushing, covering her eyes, and pushing past Elric to hastily exit the room.

After she had let, a deadly silence once again fell upon them.

"Er, I'm gonna go finish taking my shower…" Professor Elric said sheepishly, and then he scuttled out of the room.

After the door had clinked shut, Harry and Ron began a hysterical fit of laughter.

"Bloody hell! Did you see the look on Hermione's face?" Ron exclaimed.

Harry didn't respond, but instead, continued to laugh.

o-0-O-0-o

TBC

o-0-O-0-o

A/N:

o-0-O-0-o

Crappy chapter... Whatever. Anywho, I'm gonna start on the tutoring lessons in the next chapter. I just thought I'd have a bit of fun before the school work starts. If any of you think anythin gis wrong, or incorrect, write it in a review.

And again, YES EDWARD IS 26! He has gray hair cause some poeple, even if they're young, get them because they don't sleep enough or stress a lot. And some might be wondering why I made Ed refer to Envy as a wizard. That's because none of them (except Dumbledore who's dead, and Alphonse) know the truth about Envy being a Homunculus.

Alchemy is not some sort of art that only Edward knows. Alchemy is known to everyone, but it's rare to find anyone using it anymore since Magic is much faster and easier to learn and use. It's kind of a dead art.

Please review! Till the next chapter... Ja ne!


	6. Lessons and Dreams

o-0-O-0-o

A/N: I got a really good question in one of the reviews that I received for the last chapter concerning Edward's automail and stuff. I gave the reviewer a sneak peak at what was going on with it, but for the lools that didn't catch it, you'll have to wait till it's winter at Hogwarts to get the scoop.

Many have good questions about various things, but you'll have to wait and see. This story is told from Harry's point of view and Harry is pretty oblivious to everything until someone explains it to him in the end. I'm trying to write accurately in Harry's point of view and it's hard… Now I know why some authors just make Ed spill everything in the first chapter. Gawd, that'd be so much easier…

o-0-O-0-o

A few days had gone by since the incident. Harry entertained himself playing Quidditch (Ron and Ginny against Hermione and him), and Charlie had flown back to the Burrow from Romania for a weeklong visit. Bill was busy planning last minute wedding details and the twins were too preoccupied with their work to come visit, but they compensated by sending a picture of themselves saying very random things, and new phrases were heard everyday. It was almost as if they were home (due to the fact that Fred and George had somehow charmed the photograph to make loud cracking and exploding noises every once in a while when things got too quiet; on occasion, a poof of purple smoke appeared out of nowhere).

Although Harry was having the time of his life, he was beginning to get impatient.

_"If learning Alchemy is so important, then why haven't I learned any yet?"_ Harry thought bitterly to himself.

He was taking a brisk walk from his shared room to the hen house and back to procrastinate on his summer homework. More so to get away from his agenda's irritatingly constant remarks ("Do it today, or later you'll pay!") and Hermione's nagging comments ("Harry! You have a lot of time now! You can at least finish Flitwick's essay on memory charms!").

The sun was shining as brightly as it could, but the overcast and fog formed by the dementors and such made the scenery murky and ominous. Birds no longer flew through the air freely and twittered about, the garden gnomes currently found a new hobby of burrowing their heads into the ground, and even the chickens stopped clucking wildly at dawn; all due to the gloom that smothered them with an overlaying sense of dread.

"Hello Harry," a voice said from behind him.

Harry tensed instantly and the hair on the nape of his neck stood at an end. A hand had been placed on his shoulder, but he felt waves of relief crash upon him as he turned around and saw Professor Elric standing there, and smiling a relaxed grin.

"Hello, Professor," he replied dully, and didn't bother to stop walking.

Professor Elric began to walk alongside him, matching Harry's swift pace.

"You know, it's not really safe for you to be wandering around like this…" the Professor began, breaking the silence after a few quiet moments.

Harry, of course, knew better than to go outside alone; he was one of Voldemort's prime targets after all, but there's a point where some things (mainly his agenda) grated against his nerves long enough for him to throw away all logic.

"Yeah, I know," Harry said dryly, trying to be curt.

He wasn't really in the best of moods, and the best scapegoat for the frustration was the Professor.

"Well, anyways, about your lessons-"

"Yes?" Harry said quickly, spinning around to face his teacher, suddenly interested in the ongoing conversation.

"Don't cut me off like that. It's very rude you know," Edward said scowling, "But what I was going to say is that our first lesson will be tomorrow morning, crack of dawn in the backyard. Don't be late." he added imperatively.

Harry merely nodded his head, and the two continued to walk back to the house. When they entered it was time for dinner, so Mrs. Weasley ushered them in (along with everyone else residing in the house) to the dining room.

A long rectangular table had replaced the smaller circular one that usually stood in the center of the room. It was already preset with napkins, silverware, and plates. Harry chose a spot between Ron and Hermione and began eating as soon as everyone else had been seated too.

"So, Harry, why are you grinning like that? It's a bit scary mate…" Ron commented before stabbing a fried chicken leg with his fork and bringing it hastily to his plate.

"Professor Elric is going to be giving me my first lesson tomorrow," Harry said, trying not to sound too eager.

"That's great! According to Beginners Alchemy, you'll probably be learning about drawing the circles first. It's really difficult though. I've tried all summer to make a proper transformation circle, but even with my compass it's difficult. And then you have to remember what each figure means, and how it meshes the different energies. Also you have to memorize runes and be able to…" Hermione looked around at the boys. They both held identical blank stares on their faces, and Ron's mouth was open revealing its mashed up contents.

"That's gross Ron, close your mouth," she said with a grimace.

Ron swallowed his food.

"Well, anyways, Professor Elric will be teaching you all about this, so I guess I don't really need to explain," Hermione finished sharply, "Pass the carrots please, Harry."

Harry picked up the bowl on his left and handed it to her.

"You'd think that Hermione was your teacher and not the midget," Ron whispered in Harry's ear as he began to ladle a generous amount of gravy onto his mashed potatoes.

Suddenly a cry of, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SPECK OF DUST SO SMALL THAT A MUSTARD SEED WOULD LAUGH AT IT?" sounded through the room and the door burst open.

Apparently, Professor Elric had decided to kick it open, seeing as his leg was still extended in the air. Then the door swung back at him and hit the blonde in the face.

"Is it me, or are his accusations getting odder every day?" Ron commented rhetorically, while Hermione raised an eyebrow.

"Poor bloke," said Fred's portrait.

"Dove off the deep end, that one," George's picture said, nodding its head in a mock glum manner.

"Shame," said Fred.

"Stupid door…" Professor Elric grumbled bitterly as he once again opened the door and plopped himself into a seat next to the blonde witch that he had been arguing with earlier and his brother who was preoccupied with a conversation about a new chimera taxation law with Lupin.

o-0-O-0-o

Cold… it was… so cold… Harry glanced around the room. Stony cobbled walls surrounded him on all sides and a wooden door stood to his right. Somewhere a pipe was leaking because he could hear the light splatter or water against a puddle. The sound echoed eerily throughout the room and gave him a feeling of dangerous foreboding. Suddenly the door creaked open and a shadowy figure walked into the room with light steps that made almost no sound. He wore long dark robes, and his hood was raised and cast a heavy shadow on the wearer's face so Harry was unable to recognize him.

"You're late." The words came from Harry's mouth against his will. His voice was raspy, cold and high pitched.

"Yes, I think that's rather obvious. You do know about being fashionably late, don't you Voldemort?" the figure mocked.

Harry's mind reeled. Who was this man? To use that attitude against…

"Of course…" Harry said grimacing, unable to stop the words. "So how was the attempt?"

"The first two tries were failures, but the third one… it was… interesting," the man said. In the darkness Harry could feel that he was smiling.

"What do you mean by interesting?"

"Why don't you come see for yourself?"

Harry's body moved. In a fluid motion, the other man had already swept out of the room, jet robes billowing behind him. Harry followed in a rigid manner and shut the door behind him with force. Harry cold hear tortured screams behind him, and spent a millisecond glancing back to see ghostly faces twisted into expressions of agony, and their hands reaching out for his robes; but at the last moment they pulled their hands back as if burned. His lips twisted into a smirk, as he spun around and resumed following the man.

The person ahead of him turned a sharp right, and once Harry had also turned he saw the man walk through the first door on his left. Harry continued behind.

Inside the room, darkness ran rampant, and light was nowhere to be found. His eyes took a moment to adjust, but it was soon no longer necessary for the man in the robes had flipped a switch on the wall nearest to him. A blast of light hit his eyes and Harry squinted. A few seconds later the light died down to a soft glow, and ahead of him, Harry saw what seemed to be three cylindrical tanks.

However, they weren't like the aquarium that Uncle Vernon had once bought Dudley when he was seven. No, they were nothing alike at all. First of all, the tank that Vernon had bought Dudley was filled with brightly colored tropical fish that swam in circles of crystal clear water with bubbles rising from underneath the rocks every few moments, second they were about the size of a shoebox. The ones that were presented to him right now were massive. They didn't stretch horizontally like the usual ones did, and instead they rose like thick pillars that touched the ceiling. Inside the tanks, however, was the most disturbing contrast of all.

Bodies… human bodies.

No… they… those _things_ were not human. Maybe at one point they were, but now…but now…

Harry shuddered. The things that were floating in those tanks were hideously disfigured. In the tank farthest to the left was… maybe a man? His lower jaw was missing, his tongue hung out grotesquely. The skin was mottled, and decaying; it hung off of bones in a manner where he could see the individual muscles and ligaments. His ribs were no longer in his chest; instead they had twisted and were stabbed through the skin on his back as if an incomplete cage had been placed there. Its arms were bent in an unnatural manner and its eyes were almost glowing, looking straight at him with contempt and hate so strong that he almost shivered.

The second one almost resembled a baby because its head had swollen so large that it was almost the size of a regular mans chest while its body was frail and shriveled. No eyes occupied the sockets, however, a large eye, larger than the things head, could be seen on the top of his head; tearing through the skin and swiveling around uncontrollably. Its nose and mouth had somehow meshed together and its veins bulged through its skin, which was gray, rotting, and covered with scabs.

The third one on the right however, seemed the most human. It was a woman, or seemed to be one at least. She was very stunning with her light facial features and voluptuous body, but it was more of a dark beauty; her pale skin was almost translucent and her hair, dark as night. Suddenly she opened her eyes, and stared directly at him.

Harry took an involuntary step backwards. Once his shock had ebbed, he began to wonder why that other man needed electricity for light when a simple _Lumos_ spell would have sufficed.

Harry dismissed the thought as the cloaked man began speaking.

"As you can see the first one," he gestured to the one on the left, "did not achieve the effects that we had hoped for. You see, the subject was too old when he died. Therefore in the resurrection, and then the rebirth, it failed to have the results we wanted."

The man walked slightly to the right and pointed to the middle one. "After we found out that age affected it, we tried to experiment the same technique except on a younger subject," the man grimaced, "Apparently, too young. A wasted effort, and the aftereffect destroyed my lab too… pity."

"The casualties?" Harry said jokingly in a light tone of amusement.

"About three hundred or so, I'm not sure exactly. It didn't matter to me at the time so I just had the survivors count the dead bodies." The man said airily.

Harry's lips formed into a smirk. "Ah, you are even more ruthless than I am… I respect that," Harry said in a half mocking, half complimenting tone.

"You think of me as ruthless?" the man gave a dry, barking laugh," Perhaps it is just that you are too pitiable."

The man laughed again as Harry's expression set itself into one of anger or annoyance. Perhaps this time the stranger had gone too far with his teasing because Harry had just stood up and was now taking advancing steps towards the man.

"Are you suggesting that I am weak?" Harry said threateningly.

The man's chuckle had died down, but he was still smiling. "Maybe I am, maybe I am not. What do you think chum?"

By the time the man had finished the sentence, Harry already had his wand drawn out.

"Tsk tsk, rushing into things aren't you? Besides, even if we did duel what do you think your chances are of living?" the man said coolly with a smile.

Harry grimaced and grudgingly slipped his wand up his sleeve again. For a moment an awkward silence lingered in the dim room. Suddenly the cloaked man began laughing again, and after it died down he left the room leaving Harry quite alone with the three things in the tanks.

Harry walked over to the aquariums and examined each one up close out of interest or boredom. When he reached the third one, he stopped for a moment.

She had closed her eyes since the last time he was looking at her. Harry studied her a bit more closely. After a few minutes, Harry began to turn around, but all of a sudden he heard the sound of crashing glass. Harry spun back around and was shocked to see that the woman's fingers had extended and they now resembled long lances. The glass of her tank had cracked and now her violet eyes were narrowed with hatred. She had a quick "X" motion with her hand and the tank now sported a cross mark before it burst open. The green liquid that was once in the aquarium, suspending the her, was now spilled on the floor and burning his feet whenever it came in contact with them.

Harry swiftly took out his wand and swished it in a figure eight and then a jabbing shift. A clear blue sphere abruptly surrounded him and followed Harry wherever he stepped so the liquid could no longer burn him. He refocused his attention on the woman who was now staggering towards him slowly.

"Stupefy!" Harry said pointing his wand at her. A red beam of light shot out of the tip and hit the mark. For a moment the woman stopped and collapsed, but seconds later she was up on her feet again.

"_Stupefy, stupefy! STUPEFY_!" Harry yelled in his cold, rasping voice but no matter what he did, the woman continued coming closer and closer.

"Get off!" Harry said in a voice that suggested obedience, "_Stupefy! Protego_! _Impedimenta_!" Harry continued yelling.

"Harry! HARRY!" he heard suddenly from all around him.

And then… Harry woke up.

o-0-O-0-o

Harry opened his eyes to see Ron, Fred, George, and the rest of the Weasley family hovering over him along with other people like Remus, Fleur, and even Percy for some reason.

"Harry! Are you all right? You started screaming and saying jinxes and-" Ron began in a sped up pace, but Mrs. Weasley cut him off.

"Dear, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fi-…" Harry started, "Wait… Fred, George, Percy… what are you doing here?"

"Well of course we're here-"

"-we just couldn't possibly-"

"miss-"

"our own brother's-

"wedding with the soon to be Mrs. Weasley," the twins said alternately and pointing at the now blushing Fleur simultaneously.

Percy had a sour look on his face, but curtly said "Bill's wedding," and walked out of the room.

The rest of the people surrounding him continued talking to him or to each other with worried expressions on their faces, but inside Harry's mind was racing and preoccupied. That man… who was he? Why was Voldemort afraid of him? What was that thing in the tanks? Why wasn't it affected by the spells? Why didn't he try Avada Kedavra on it? Where was he in his dream?

Harry curled up and began rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was drowning in his thoughts and needed something to focus on or occupy himself with.

Homework.

Yes, that's what he needed, to do his homework. But…

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked abruptly, breaking through the chatter.

"Er, about Hermione…" Ron said hesitantly, "She got hit with one of the curses you were letting off when you were asleep."

Harry's eye widened as his body froze with horror.

"But it's okay, really! Professor Elric took her to St. Mungo's while we were trying to wake you up. I think it was a stunning spell, but I'm not sure because she… because she wouldn't wake up when we tried to revive her."

o-0-O-0-o

TBC

o-0-O-0-o

A/N: Okay, hey. I know this chapter is ridiculously late. I apologize, but it is pretty long. Anyways, I guess I was just busy, state testing and all.

Oh, for school I'm doing this research report on… guess who! Masashi Kishimoto! Author of NARUTO! It's so much fun and I get to read Naruto for research! Woohoo! Yes, I am very happy.

Please review, and don't let the llama's spit or bite!


	7. Blondes and St Mungo's

o-0-O-0-o

First of all, I'm sorry this is late.

Second, about the spells that Voldy used. He would probably of used the Unforgivables if they would've worked/he wanted to use them but: Crucio wouldn't work (homunculi, duh), Imperious wouldn't work (not human), and Avada Kedavra is a no no cause he doesn't want to kill it.

Also, Stupefy is not a childish spell. The ministry members used it to capture Hagrid (unsuccessfully) in fifth year.

Sorry, rambling… Thanks to the people who reviewed! Sorry if I seem angry, 'cause I'm not. I'm glad that you people give me questions, but before you ask, please think them through.

No offense to earthrise. I just thought that others might be wondering the same thing.

P.S. Go visit littlewolf123. Her newest story, The Next Generation (Avatar:the last airbender), is co written by me! Kay! REVIEW!

o-0-O-0-o

Start

o-0-O-0-o

As the blonde haired girl sat up from her bed, awoken by an abrupt scream, she rubbed her eyes and put on her pink bunny slippers. She then stood and began walking towards where the noise originated. She wandered drowsily for a few minutes, until she realized that she was going the wrong direction.

"Crap…" she said before turning around and trying to remember which corridor her bedroom was in.

"Winry! Get out of my way!" someone yelled.

"Huh?" she said, her eyes still crusted half-shut with sleep.

"Move!"

She rubbed her eyes once again, and in front of her stood the infamous Edward Elric… with a girl in his arms.

"Hey! What are you doing to her! You child molester! Why I ought to-…"

"Where's the closest fireplace?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, erm… I think it's in the living room downstairs, but-…"

"Thanks," Edward yelled before he ran off.

Winry slumped down to the floor, thoroughly confused. She had never seen Edward like that before, except when…

She sighed and stood up again only to have her thoughts interrupted once more.

"Carmichael! Carmichael!" Shacklebolt yelled from down the hall as he ran towards her. "Have you seen Elric?"

"Uh, yeah. He just ran by here a second ago and-…"

"Thanks!" He said before running off, only to have the very angry blonde grab his collar and pull him back.

"What the hell is going here?" she yelled.

"Urgh, let go! There's no time, I have to-…" he stopped making up his excuse the second he saw her wand out.

He shuddered. Although Winry's magical skills weren't the most developed, she could give a mean right hook and when she threw her wand at people… Shacklebolt shuddered again.

"It's Potter. He started having weird dreams and began throwing out curses in his sleep," he told her solemnly. "That girl you saw Edward holding, she was hit by a Stunner but we can't get her to wake up again."

"What? That can't be possible! Have you tried _Ennervate_?" Winry suggested while making poking movements with her wand to animate her speech. "Or you could always-…"

"Winry! That girl's life is in danger! This is no time to be-…"

"Where is she?"

"I just said that Elric is taking her to St. Mungo's! Were you even listening to me?"

"Not really…."

Shacklebolt sighed and ran off in pursuit of Edward leaving Winry watching from behind. She sighed and a worried expression crossed her face.

'_I wonder… is this the work of He-who-must-not-be named? If so then maybe…_he _was involved in this. I-I'll _kill_ him!' _she thought as she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

o-0-O-0-o

At St. Mungo's at 10:00 AM the same day, but later…

o-0-O-0-o

"Where is she? WHERE'S HERMIONE?" Ron shouted.

The lady who stood behind the reception desk stepped back, frightened, and mumbled out, "I-I can't help you unless you t-tell me her last name…"

Fred (or George, Harry couldn't really tell) stepped forward with an unusually calm head and put up a hand to signal that Ron should shut up.

"We're looking for Hermione Granger," he said politely, which was something very surprising to Harry because this was one of the few times that the twins ever looked serious.

"Um, I believe she's on the fourth floor, in the… erm, Long Term ward. When you get off the stairs it's the first door on your right. I don't think that visitors are allowed right now though-…"

The twins, Harry, Ron, and Ginny were already long gone.

o-0-O-0-o

"So when do you think they'll find the cure?" Ginny asked as she gave the unconscious Hermione a worried look.

Ginny, Ron, the twins, and Harry were sitting in metal folding chairs that George had conjured around Hermione's hospital bed.

"I don't know. I hope it's soon though…" Harry said as he gave Ginny a comforting hug.

Ron began glaring daggers at Harry, so the Boy-who-lived let go of Ginny immediately. Ron then nodded in approval.

There was silence in the ward. Nobody said anything as they all just watched Hermione. Her stillness unnerved Harry. He had never really seen her so… motionless. No matter when he caught her, she was usually scribbling furiously onto a piece of parchment, or her eyes were shifting quickly as she read some moldy old library book. Of course he had never seen her sleeping except for a couple of times where she fell asleep in the common room or whatnot, but even then her face seemed to be tense as if trying hard to remember some fact for an upcoming test. Now… her expressions were so relaxed, as if all the anxiety and nervousness had melted away from her façade.

"I…I want to do something to help her…" said Harry.

"Yeah, me too…"

Suddenly the door to the room opened with a creaking noise. The group didn't bother to turn their heads because they were too busy thinking.

"Oh! It's you three again!" A loud and jolly voice sounded out.

'_Wait… I know that voice… it's-'_

"Professor Lockhart!" Ginny yelled.

"Oh, hello! You're that little redhead that I met in that weird cave… My, you've grown!" he said cheerfully.

Fred leaned towards Harry. "Is it true that he lost his memory?"

Embarrassed at what actually happened in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry turned a bit red and said back to him, "Yeah, but don't mention it to-…"

"George, my dearest brother!" Fred exclaimed, "My knowledge is trustworthy, and so now any memory of us pulling any practical jokes on him is long forgotten!"

"Yes!"

"And who exactly are you two?" Lockhart asked, his smile unwavering although he seemed a bit frightened.

"We are-"

"The infamous-"

"Fred and-"

"George Weasley of-"

"Hogwarts, but now residing in-"

"Number ninety-three-"

"Diagon Alley-"

"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!"

"How delightful!" Gildoroy said with amazement as he applauded loudly, earning him weird looks from Ginny and Harry.

The rest of the ward (that was sleeping) was woken up by the applause and were now groaning, and one man even shouted out, "Shut UP before I decide to bite you!", while the already conscious ones let out a long groan. Ron put his head in his hands and began muttering incoherent sentences.

"So, do any of you want my autograph? I suppose Ron and Harry here have already given some to you after their last visit to me, but I suppose you all want more because your friends have been wanting them!" he said before brandishing a long, fluffy peacock feather quill.

The group began protesting.

"Oh no, we _couldn't_ possibly-…"

"It's okay, you _don't have to_ you know-…"

"I'm sure our friends will be jealous if we get _too_ much attention from you, so I don't think we should-…"

Etcetera…

And etcetera…

"Are you sure? I mean, I have plenty of photographs to go around so no one will feel left out-…"

"Mr. Lockhart!" said a nurse who had just walked into the room, breathing a bit heavily. She had short blonde hair that was cropped boyishly and the longest pieces managed to brush against her shoulder blades. "You shouldn't run off like that! You might get lost again! Remember last time when you ended up on the second floor and caught the Vanishing sickness? We couldn't find you for days! "

"Hello Miss Riza! I was just about to give my autograph to these kids-…"

_'We're not kids…' _Harry thought

"… but I'm glad you're here! You can help me hand them out!"

"Mr. Lockhart, I'm sure that these visitors are very busy," she said calmly and then turned her attention towards them, "Would you like me to escort you to the Tea Room?"

"Sure," George said happily. "A lovely lady like yourself-"

"- should never be alone!" Fred finished.

Miss. Riza raised an eyebrow, "Okay then, let's go."

As they walked through the halls and up the stairs, a silence settled over them. It was uncomfortable and Harry was about to say something, anything, just to get some conversation when Miss. Riza began speaking.

"I'm sorry if he caused you any inconvenience. I was just escorting him to the bathroom and when we came back he started running off and I couldn't catch up. The door to this ward is usually locked (he's not dangerous or anything) so I thought he'd have trouble getting in, and then would get himself lost trying to find me again. I'm glad you guys were in the room already."

"Um… you're welcome?" Ginny mumbled unsurely.

"So, who are you here to see?" Riza asked politely.

"Our friend, Hermione…" Harry replied.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She got hit by a Stunner, and… erm… won't…" Ginny mumbled the rest of the words and nobody could really understand what she was saying.

The nurse frowned, "I'm sorry, I hope she gets better soon."

"Yeah…"

"Oi Harry! Wait up!" A voice sounded from behind them.

Harry turned around, to see who had called. To his surprise, it was Professor Elric, running up the stairs to catch up. Clothed in his usual brown dress pants, black boots, brown vest, and white button up shirt, he looked positively normal compared to the rest of the crowd and their wizard robes and hats.

"Hello Professor," Ginny said happily.

"Hello," Edward said.

He had finally drew level to them and was breathing heavily. He looked up, and his eyes landed on the nurse. Harry saw the professors eyes widen and his pupils dilate.

_'What's wrong with Elric-…?'_

"ACK!"

"Huh?" Harry said dumbly before he realized that his teacher was about to fall down the stairs.

Harry, with his Seeker reflexes, reached out his arm and grabbed the blonde's hand before he tumbled all the way down. Harry displayed a puzzled expression on his face.

_'Professor Elric's hand… Why is it cold?' _Harry thought.

"Thanks Potter," Elric said before continuing walking.

The group also moved along, but Harry stayed behind his teacher and stared at his exposed right hand with concentration.

_'It looks normal… it's not even disfigured or discolored… but still, it didn't feel like a normal hand. His hand was hard… and cold…'_

"Well, here we are," the nurse said gesturing towards a room filled with plush maroon colored couches and wooden tables. There was a small stand in the corner of the room that sold little bottles of pumpkin juice, sandwiches, candy, and such. The air smelled like butterbeer, warm and relaxing.

As the gang entered the room, Professor Elric stayed behind and exchanged some words with the nurse. Harry watched, but couldn't hear what they were saying. When the nurse left and he rejoined the group, Elric's face was solemn and his lips were pressed together in a straight line.

_'I wonder…'_

o-0-O-0-o

TBC

o-0-O-0-o

A/N: I'm sorry if the whole Lockhart thing sounded copied (it's NOT!). I just thought that if Hermione was going to be in the same ward as him, they're going to see him sooner or later.

Oh, I know that Lockhart saw Ginny again at the hospital that one time when they were visiting Mr. Weasley, but I thought that the "My you've grown" was funnier... yeah... sorry...

Winry and Riza are introduced! This is post-movie, so you some people might not get it.

I hope you like this chapter!

Again, I love reviews, but also again, please think questions thoroughly. If you still think something is wrong though, please feel free to review or PM. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Reviews! 'kay? And with questions, I usually answer them in review reply. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my reviewers!

Gomen, I'm on a sugar and marshmallow high.

10 pages on Microsoft word!

Again, go visit littlewolf123! Read The Next Generation! Cowritten by me!


	8. Potions and Standards

o-0-O-0-o

Fore Note: I feel as if I'm abusing the "…"'s and the 'o-0-O-0-o''s. I probably am, but whatever! I'm trying to finish this one quickly, because I think I lost fans because I took so long to update.

Also, please go to my friend's site. Her pen name is littlewolf123. Please read her new story A New Generation. It's an Avatar: the Last Airbender fanfic, and it only has a prologue out right now, but PLEASE go read it and review! PLEASE! Not a single person has reviewed yet, and it's making me sad, because I'm going to be writing a few chapters for it. I've even drawn fan art, but I don't have a scanner so I can't show you guys…

o-0-O-0-o

"Ron?"

"Yeah, what?"

"Did you notice anything," Harry paused, "…weird about Professor Elric?"

Ron and Harry were back at the Burrow playing a new board game that Fred and George had come up with. The twins were using them as guinea pigs, but the game was fun so they didn't really care. While sitting on the wooden floors, Harry was still thinking fiercely about Professor Elric's hand.

"Not really," Ron replied. "I mean, he started yelling when that doctor bloke thought he had the Shrinking Sickness and tried to cure it by… well, never mind,"

Harry and Ron's faces began turning a bit red and Ron chuckled a bit, remembering what happened after them two, the twins, the Professor, and Ginny decided to leave St. Mungo's after a few pumpkin pasties and some flagons of butterbeer in the Tea Room. When they were passing the Second Floor on the way down, a doctor by the name of Sylvester Blanc had tried to give Professor Elric a 'check up' in the middle of the Hallway.

It turns out that Sylvester wasn't even a doctor at St. Mungo's. The man was under the influence of some sort of memory sickness, and also believed he was a vampire hunter, a dragon slayer, and a curse breaker for Gringott's. While Elric was fighting the man off, ("Gerroff me!" "But your lack of height proves that you're ill!" "I'M NOT SICK! I'M NOT SHORT EITHER!"), a brunette nurse who was supposed to be keeping the man under close watch found them and was apologizing to the group profusely.

When the nurse began to hit on Harry after seeing his scar, Ginny deemed it was time to leave ("The _nerve_ of that horrid woman! She was at least _twice_ your age!").

"Yeah, but besides that, did you notice anything different?"

"Nope, not at all. Why are you asking about Elric all of a sudden?"

"Well, you remember when he fell?"

Ron nodded.

"And I caught him?"

Ron nodded again.

"Well, his hand was cold… and hard."

"Maybe he just has low body temperature or something,"

Harry gave Ron a look that said 'Oh-my-goodness-after-all-the-time-you've-spent chasing-mosters-and-evil-wizards-with-me-you-think-that-the-guy-I-have-a-hunch-about-has-low-body-temperature-for-an-excuse!'

"Or not… No need to get all defensive mate."

"Sorry. Anyways, I wish Hermione was here. She'd know what to do…"

A gloomy silence fell over them.

"Well," Ron said in a false cheerful tone, "It's your turn to roll the dice!"

"Yeah," Harry said glumly as he picked up the white cubes and threw them gently onto the table.

They fell with the number one facing up on both die.

"Snake Eyes…" Ron noted.

Harry scowled.

o-0-O-0-o

**At St. Mungo's…**

o-0-O-0-o

"I think I know what potion to use!" a young apprentice doctor said as he picked up a vial filled with purple liquid and a stack of papers, and moved them over to his senior's desk.

"What's that?" the old doctor asked, squinting through his thick spectacles that hid half of his face.

"A new potion I created! It's for that girl in the Long Term Spell Damage ward, you know, the one that won't wake up?"

"Ah, yes, of course. Her name is Hermione Granger. Muggle born, but brilliant…"

"Sir, how do you know that?"

"Oh, I just looked in her file, but back to business. What's in that potion?"

"It's really nothing too special. I based it off of the Draught of Living Death, but what I did is I found the elemental opposites of each ingredient and used them instead. Also, I added a small amount of monkshood when it was in the last stage of boiling." He said with pride.

"Also, when I used a Stunner on 10 of the lab rats, 9 of them recovered instantly!"

"What happened to the last one?" the old man asked, suspicious.

"Well, it erm, died, but the rest of the nine survived didn't they? I was hoping to be able to pass this through the system so that it can be used to save lives!"

"I won't allow it," the old man stated.

"What! But I've been working for-…"

"It doesn't matter how much effort you put into it. If it doesn't pass the standard of the lab rats, which is already very low, then it shouldn't be allowed to be tested on other creatures, and especially not human beings! When I was your age, the standard was 15 chimpanzees! Of course they changed it because the monkeys wouldn't stop throwing their feces at the workers who took care of them…"

"But Sir I…!"

"No, and that's my final decision!"

The apprentice looked sadly at the potion sample that he held in his hand, and then at the large pile of paperwork that was sitting on his desk. That mountain of papers was only a fourth of the research, and written reports that he had written for his potion.

The senior noticed the apprentice's expression, and sighed.

"I'm sorry, but you said you wanted to save lives right?"

The younger man grunted.

"Well, if you want to save them, then you should be going back over your work, double checking all the possible reasons why that one rat died. Or you could dissect the rat and figure out if the reason it's dead is because of the potion, or because the rat already had internal problems."

"Thank you for your advice!" the apprentice said happily. "I think I'm going to go home now, it's getting dark," he said pointing to the windows.

"Of course. You can go home, I'll lock up later."

"Good night Mr. Denham," he said as he put on his cloak.

As Orrin walked out of the office, he heard from behind him, "Good night to you too, Mr. Creighton."

Orrin continued walking down a few hallways, turning left or right when he needed to.

"Damn that senile old man!" Orrin said as soon as he was sure that the old man was out of earshot.

He briskly traveled down the stairs. '_Even when I put on a sad face and a goody two-shoes act he didn't let me try to pass the potion! I've worked on it too long and too hard for it to just go to waste, but what can I do?'_

'_**Ah, a troubled young mind…**'_

Orrin stopped.

"Who's there?" he demanded, swiveling on his heel and looking all around him.

_'**No need to be worried… It's not like you're going mad…**' _the cold voice said again.

Orrin growled, and his eyebrows narrowed.

'**_I can help you Creighton… I can make all of your dreams come true…'_**

The apprentice began walking down the stairs again.

"Ha! I don't need you; I can achieve my goals on my own."

_'…**I can even help you with that potion of yours… Just try not to resist…**'_

The voice slowly faded away, but the words still echoed in his mind. Orrin stood still for a few moments before shaking his head.

"What the hell was that?" he mumbled.

As he turned around, about to head down another flight of stairs, the first thing he saw was a pair of coal black eyes, and then… nothing.

o-0-O-0-o

**Back at the Burrow…**

o-0-O-0-o

"Oof!"

"Harry! Are you alright?"

"What do you think? Don't just stand there staring! Help get it _off_ of me!"

"Sorry," Ron said sheepishly as he put down the white folding chairs he was carrying to the field, and used both of his hands to try and pry the fencing off of Harry.

"Hurry!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm trying! Hold on, I've almost got it… There!"

"Thanks."

"Hey! Why are you two slacking off! Get to work!" Bill said.

There was a note of hysteria in his voice as the man paced back and forth. Bill's wedding was drawing closer, and it seemed that the pre-wedding jitters were finally taking their toll. Bill had been snapping at everyone for the past few days, and Fleur was the only exception to his agitation.

Bill's face never fully healed from the werewolf attack at the end of the last school year. He used a makeup charm that his mother taught him to cover it. Fleur was always insisting that he didn't need to hide the disfigurement, because she thought, "zat it makes 'im look brave". Ginny still disliked Fleur, but thought better of her once she heard that Fleur didn't cancel the wedding and break up with Bill.

"Come on Harry; let's go before he decides to scold us even more. He's starting to remind me of Mum…"

"Agreed," Harry said.

"Harry! Wait!" someone called.

Harry turned around and saw Professor Elric jogging towards him from the house.

"What do you want?" Harry asked.

Professor Elric looked at him with disapproval. "You better be more respectful or else I'll teach you Alchemy the way _my_ Teacher taught me."

"If you're so great at it, wouldn't you _want_ to teach me that way?" Harry said, being a smart aleck.

"Stop being such a smart ass. I came here to get you for your first lesson, so let's go brat before you piss me off too much," Elric said before turning around and heading back to the house.

"I swear I'll…" Harry began.

"Hurry up! Are you so stupid that you need me to hold your hand?" Elric shouted to Harry.

Harry growled, but had no choice but to follow the man.

o-0-O-0-o

**Inside the Burrow**

o-0-O-0-o

"First thing you must know about Alchemy is Equivalent Exchange," said Professor Elric. "Do you know what that is?"

"Er, exchanging something for something else of equal value?" Harry guessed from the name.

"Yeah, something like that. Never forget it though. Equivalent Exchange is everything. Alchemy is based off of that concept and if you disobey that law, it's not up to me to punish you. The Law of Conservation _will_ take whatever it wants from you, even your life."

"I cannot gain anything without first sacrificing something in return. I must present something of equal value to obtain what I desire. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange." Professor Elric added, saying the words slowly and concisely.

He then turned towards Harry with an evil smile.

"Now copy what I just said on paper ten thousand times!"

Harry stared at Elric with shock and disbelief.

'_WHAT! Ten thousand times! That's…that's-…'_

"You can't be serious Professor!"

Professor Elric gave a small manical chuckle that made Harry's hair stand on end.

"I am _very_ serious. See you in a week! You better have your homework finished by then!"

"What do you mean? Are you going somewhere?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Professor Elric replied.

"Where?"

"Stop being nosy brat, get to work. And don't even think about cheating. I've got to go pack." The blonde said before walking out of the room.

"He's a sadist…"

o-0-O-0-o

**In Edward's room that he shares with Al that used to be Charlie's**

o-0-O-0-o

"Brother, where are you going this time?" Alphonse asked.

"Switzerland. I've received a trail of clues leading me to the next Horcrux. I'm going to check out if the source is reliable before I go on any wild goose chases."

"I see… Be careful though."

"I will."

o-0-O-0-o

**A Few days later and in Switzerland…**

o-0-O-0-o

"Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to Zurich?"

"Vilken gora ni vilja litet pojke? (What do you want little boy?)" the man replied to the blonde.

"Nevermind…" Elric said as he returned his eyes to his map, as the man he was talking to bumbled away.

"Excuse me, but are you Edward Elric?" a heavily accented voice asked from his right.

Edward looked up and saw the face of an old woman standing next to him. She had a pleasant smile on her face, and was wearing a heavy dress with a floral pattern and a hand-knitted shawl.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"I am Rosamund Stasia, the one who called for you." The woman said.

o-0-O-0-o

**Back at the Burrow a Week Later**

o-0-O-0-o

"Harry, stop doing your homework for a minute and play chess with me or something. You're starting to get dull," Ron said as he watched his best friend waste his life away sitting at a desk and writing standards.

The Harry's desk was swamped with pieces of parchment, and empty inkbottles lay discarded on the floor. Harry was sitting on a wooden chair working furiously. Ink covered his hand, and his quill was starting to look ragged. Harry had been working nonstop for the entire week. The only times he stepped away from the desk was to eat a quick meal, shower for 5 minutes, and to take a short nap.

"I can't Ron," Harry said as he worked. "It's already been a week and I'm only done with 7062… 7063 paragraphs."

"How about I do some for you? You'll get done faster and-…"

"No, he'll find out," Harry said.

"How? He's in a different country (probably) for crying out loud!"

"I have my ways."

The two teens looked at each other. When they realized that neither of them had said that… They looked up and saw Elric standing in the doorway.

"Professor Elric!" Harry exclaimed, trying to scribble the lines even faster than before, if that was even possible.

"So, are you done with your standards?" he asked cockily as he sauntered over to Harry's desk.

"No… sir," Harry tacked on the sir with annoyance. He knew how teachers liked to feel important.

"Well, then finish them.I'll give you an extension, one more day. If you don't finish them by tomorrow, I'm going to give you even more lines and I'll give you a beating you'll never forget!" Elric said in a scarily eager tone.

Harry gulped, but behind that he wondered to himself why Professor Elric was being so generous.

As Elric turned around to leave, Harry noticed that his professor was limping.

"Professor, what's wrong with your leg?" Harry asked.

"It's nothing," Professor Elric snapped before turning around and exiting the room.

Once Elric was out of earshot, Harry said to Ron, "Extendable Ears?"

"Definitely"

o-0-O-0-o

**TBC**

o-0-O-0-o

AN:

o-0-O-0-o

LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello my lovely Readers! Please Review! I really tried hard to get this chapter up quickly, but I think as a result, the ending turned out awkward and a bit weird. I usually like taking my time, but so many people asked for me to update faster so I felt kinda pressured. T.T

I'm sorry if this chapter turned out crappy. For the last part I kinda couldn't figure out what I could address Edward by from Harry's point of view. There's blonde, Elric, Professor, and Professor Elric, and I had already used them, so I think I started accidentally repeating stuff.

Also, my Microsoft Word is acting weird. My spell check is broken, but I'm trying to do my best without it. If you see typos, please forgive me.

12 pages on Microsoft word!

Oh, a little bit about my personal life. I'm going to sleep over at chocoxtruffle ' s house tonight! Woohoo! And littlewolf123 is going to be there too! Please take the time to visit littlewolf123 ' s site and read The New Generation and please review for that. I'm going to be writing a few chapters for that story here and there, so yeah…

Please Review. It makes me really happy when you guys do. I was sad when not a lot of people reviewed my last chapter. When I don't get a lot of reviews I get tempted to stop the series… so please PLEASE review.


	9. Beatings and Extendable Ears

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A/N: I was all O.O when I saw all the reviews I got for the last chapter. I was COMPLETELY awed! I was so happy that people decided to review so much, but I partially suspect that it was because I accidentally made it sound like I decided to end the series. Don't worry though; I'm not going to abandon this fic that easily. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't review though. That's really the only reason I didn't stop after one or two chapters.

I just wanted to apologize for worrying some people.

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**Extendable Ears and Beatings**

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After Professor Elric left the room, Ron and Harry quickly scrambled up the stairs to the Twins' room. Fred was the only one in the room (Harry could tell it was Fred because he was wearing one of his Christmas sweaters), while George was off somewhere fighting dragons and saving busty blondes from smoldering wreckage.

"We need two sets of Extendable Ears!" Ron said quickly.

"Why should we give away our merchandise to you?" Fred asked.

"Please Fred, it's really important," Harry said.

"Tell me what's important, and I'll give Harry one pair. You get to pay for yours though, Ron," Fred said.

Ron grumbled.

"I'm your brother! Shouldn't you at least give me some sort of discount?" Ron exclaimed.

"If you were Mum, yes, but you are you, so no!" Fred said in a tongue-twisting fashion, "Besides, didn't you already buy a pair from George the last time you went to Diagon Alley? And Harry, didn't we send you a pair along with other wonderful and enchanting items from George and I's humble abode?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I, er…" Ron stuttered.

He then began playing with his fingers and didn't look up.

Harry also felt a bit ashamed. He had once tried to listen in on a conversation that Ginny was having with Dean after they broke up, and afterwards he couldn't find them.

"I'm going to ignore you," Fred said to his brother pointedly. He then turned towards Harry. "So why _do_ you want my goods?"

Harry turned to Ron, and Ron nodded.

"Something is going on with Professor Elric. I just talked to him a second ago, and he was limping. I need to listen in one of his conversations with his brother or someone to find out why," Harry said seriously.

He felt like he had said too much, but really, what could he do? Harry really needed the Extendable Ears, and Fred was trustworthy.

Fred stared at the-Boy-Who-Lived for a second as if he was deciding if Harry was mental or not. He then looked up, and then he said, "If you're already of age, why can't you just ask the Elric bloke directly?"

"Not exactly. My birthday is on the 31st, it's about half a month away. Besides, I have a feeling that Professor Elric wouldn't give me that sort of information. I'd imagine that he'd rather destroy some piece of furniture first (Ron nodded in agreement). Anyways, if I was there, I think they would just hide things from me anyway."

"Never mind then. Hold on, let me get some for you" Fred said standing up and walking over to a large cabinet with double doors. He reached his hand in and seemed to dig around for a moment before a triumphant grin spread across his face.

"Got them. Here, now do you want to keep them or are you going to give them back?" Fred asked as he handed Harry what looked like purple and red string, about 3 yards long.

"Were they always this color?" Harry asked.

"Nope! George and I thought the original ones were too plain, so we now sell them in sets of green and yellow, orange and blue, and purple and red ones like the pair you're holding right now! We were also planning on making some in House colors, but we don't know what to do about the Slytherin's… and also the fact that Hogwarts might be…." Fred started and then he paused. "Never mind. Hurry up, and tell me what you hear."

"Sure. Ron, let's go,"

o-0-O-0-o

**Go Back a Bit in Time to Where I First Began this Chapter but From Edward's Point of View**

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After Edward walked out of his pupil's work area he chuckled and headed towards his room. The stairs groaned each time he set a foot on them, and his boots squeaked. As he limped his way up the steps, he grunted whenever his left leg was set down.

When he reached the room and opened the door, Alphonse was already inside. Al was busy clipping his toe nails when Edward entered, but he set the instrument down when he saw his sibling walk in.

"Brother! How was your trip?"

"It sucked. The food was terrible, and the weather was driving me nuts," Edward replied as he plopped himself onto his bed.

"You know what I mean," Alphonse said.

"Well…" Edward looked around the room, and then took his wand out, pointed it at the door, and mumbled something under his breath. "There, that's better."

"What did you do?" Alphonse asked with a healthy sense of curiosity.

"Nothing much, just made this room sound-proof."

"Good idea Brother!"

"Yeah…" Edward said.

He stared at his hands for a moment; flexed and unflexed them.

"When I got to Switzerland, I got lost," said Edward. "The portkey took me to some town south of the city. I wandered around for a couple of days trying to find Zurich or at least someone who spoke English. On the third day, some lady came up to me and asked if I was Edward Elric. I asked why and she said it was because she was the one who had called for an Order member. Her name was Rosamund Stasia."

"Stasia drove me to her house in Zurich. She said that after I hadn't shown up, she decided to go looking for me. After we arrived, she took me into her house and told me about the clues she heard… that one of the Horcruxes is some sort of clock that belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. I asked her how she knew about it, and she said that she didn't know. And suddenly, she attacked me!"

"_What_!" Alphonse exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know!" Ed exclaimed. "It's insane! I didn't think she'd even be able to run because of her age, she _was _an old lady. And there she was, bouncing off of the walls and throwing curses at me! In the end I had to give her a stunner, didn't want to hurt her because she was probably under the Imperius Curse," said Edward while he animated his anecdote with much kicking, noise, and flailing of the arms.

"So then what did you do?"

"I ended up having to search the place to see if the person who put her under the Curse was still there. The bastard… I didn't get a good look at him after I caught him 'because he wore some stupid mask. The guy was trying to run away. I got him with a full body bind, but he broke through and did something weird to my leg right before he Disapparated. When I took the Stunner off Stasia, she was completely out of it. Couldn't tell her right foot from left and kept going on about how the ceiling looked lovely. She probably had her memory modified before she was put under the curse-…"

"So…" began Alphonse, "That means she really did know something about the Horcruxes!

"Yeah, and now whoever's side that man was on knows the information that we needed. You know, now that I think about it, his mask wasn't one of those white Death Eater ones" Edward said sullenly

"I wonder what that means… Do you think there's a third party in this war?"

"Mm, that's a possible thought…"

"So where is Ms. Stasia now?" Al asked

"It's Mis_sus_, but she's a widow now."

"If someone's a widow would they be called Ms., Mrs., or Mz.?" Alphonse pondered aloud.

"Eh, whatever. But to answer your question, Stasia is at St. Mungo's now. They're trying to recover her memory. Her head's pretty messed up though. She probably won't be of any use to us anymore."

Alphonse nodded and then said, "Did you get your leg checked by the Healers there?"

"Yeah, but it's not like they can do anything for it, you know. Maybe Dumbledore could've, but he's dead. I don't really know anyone powerful enough to fix it. I was thinking of transmuting it together, but I'm not sure if that'll work.

Al nodded his head.

"So, how are you doing with Harry's tutoring lessons? Last week he didn't even come out of his room!"

"Really? All I did was give him standards. He didn't finish them though, so I gave him an extra day."

"How many lines?" Alphonse asked.

"Ten thousand," Ed said nonchalantly.

"What! Brother, that's too much! You'll never be a good teacher if you keep going about things like that!"

"It doesn't really matter to me. I could care less if he learns shit from me. It doesn't matter to me whether Voldemort wins or loses this war as long as he doesn't bother you or me. You know, I don't think I even care if the Potter kid dies or not. I mean, it's really not my problem," said Edward.

"Brother! You shouldn't think like that! What about all the other people out there! They're dying too!"

"If it doesn't affect me. Why should I give them my sympathy?"

"Stubborn as usual…"

"Oh, by the way," Edward said as he sat up on the bed, "I saw Hawkeye's alter the other day when I went to St. Mungo's with the kids!"

"Really? That's so weird… I mean seeing Winry here was strange enough but now Ms. Riza?"

"I know! We might even see Armstrong!"

"And maybe even Mr. Mustang!"

"Ew… I don't even want to see Colonel Bastard's face again!"

Alphonse let out a wry laugh. "That's only because he teases you about your height. But his alter probably won't, you know. It's eerie meeting them again; they have no memory of us from Amestris."

"Yeah, it sometimes seems like this entire thing is one big joke, I mean after-…"

"What is it Brother?" Alphonse asked alarmed.

Edward had suddenly stopped talking. He had a serious expression on his face, and held a hand up to signal for Al to be quiet. The blonde stood up without a noise, and walked over to the door.

Then without notice, Edward kicked the door and it snapped cleanly into 3 pieces, revealing the two soon-to-be men standing behind it holding two pieces of purple and red string.

It was dead silent. Nobody moved and the boys were being pierced with a bone-chilling glare. The room dilled with a thick tension, and it was smothering to move in.

"What did you hear…" said Ed softly. The shadows from his two front blonde bangs hid his eyes momentarily.

"I- no- I mean-…" Harry stuttered.

"WHAT DID YOU HEAR!" Edward roared, as he brought his fist down and punched Harry.

The boy flew to the other end of the hallway, and slammed into the wall. He slid down and lay in a heap on the floor.

Ron's widened with terror as he began to frantically crawl backwards in a vain attempt to put more distance between him and his professor. Edward swiveled his eyes in the redhead's direction without turning his head.

"You aren't my student yet…" Edward said in a deathly quiet voice, and then focused his attention on Harry again.

Ed began walking towards him.

"Professor! You aren't allowed to-…" Harry began as he hastily tried to pull out his wand from his robes, but was cut off when Edward kneed him in the stomach.

Harry groaned as he bent over and dropped his wand. Edward continued and performed a roundhouse kick aimed at the boy's shoulder. It landed with a sickening crunch.

Footsteps were heard clunking up the wooden stairs. Edward ignored them

"What is going on up here?" Mrs. Weasley said as she was halfway up the steps. "You lot shouldn't be making so much…" her voice trailed off as she drank in the sight.

One of her sons was on the floor, Edward Elric was beating Harry to a pulp, and Alphonse was just leaning against the doorframe of his bedroom, calmly watching the situation.

"EDWARD! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Mrs. Weasley bellowed.

Mrs. Weasley was raging with anger. Her face had gone past red and was settling on a deep purplish-maroon. She stormed across the hall towards Edward.

"WHY FOR MERLIN'S BEARD'S SAKE WERE YOU HITTING HARRY?" Mrs. Weasley hollered.

Edward seemed to have shrunken a few feet. The older woman proceeded to throwing a fit and was screaming and yelling at the blonde boy. She even conjured her long wooden cooking spoon from the kitchen, only to use it to beat Edward on the head a few times.

"YOU NEVER EVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE VIOLENCE LIKE THAT IN THIS HOUSE! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

o-0-O-0-o

**A Bit Later On…**

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"Ow, ow, ow! Be a bit gentler Al!" whined Edward as Alphonse dabbed his wooden spoon wounds with a bit of hydrogen peroxide on a Q-Tip.

"Why do you insist on healing yourself this way brother? You know someone could just '_Episkey_' you and it'd all heal up," Al said.

"Meh, it just doesn't feel natural, you know?"

"I guess so… Isn't Harry supposed to be inside doing the homework you gave him?"

"Nah," Edward said, "Mrs. Weasley told him he didn't have to finish it."

"Why do you always listen to Mrs. Weasley? I mean, you never argue with her or anything, you just do whatever she tells you to."

"…I… I guess it's because she remind me of _our _mom…" Edward muttered quietly.

Alphonse bowed his head slightly, as shadows flitted through his eyes.

The two boys were outside in the fresh air (although there was still fog and much gloominess) supervising a small modified Quidditch game going on between Harry, some redheaded girl, Ron, twin redheads that Edward knew to be troublemakers due to their infamous charmed photograph, and the guy who's wedding was next week.

Edward was sitting on a wooden stool he had transmuted with a simple circle, and Alphonse was kneeling on the floor attending Edward's abrasions.

"You know what's weird?" Alphonse said rhetorically. He looked around to check that no one was in the immediate area. "When Winry attached your automail you never complained, and here, even though you're an adult, you're whining like a baby!" he said teasingly.

"Humph!" Edward snorted.

"Hey! Did someone say my name?" a blonde girl said excitedly as she rushed over to the two Elric brothers.

"Hello Winry…" Edward said a bit jadedly.

"Good afternoon Ms. Winry!" Alphonse said with a smile.

Winry returned it, and said, "You know, you really don't have to address me so formally Al. It makes me feel old… I'm only 19 you know," she said with a bit of a pout.

Winry then turned to Edward.

"So, where did you get all those injuries?" she asked.

Alphonse began giggling slightly, and Ed scowled.

"Big brother here got a scolding from Mrs. Weasley!" Alphonse said, highly amused.

"I didn't get scolded! I was attacked!" Edward said in defense of his pride.

"Riiight…" Winry said, stretching out the word.

"Look out!" someone shouted suddenly.

Ed turned around to see why whoever was yelling was yelling when he saw a blur of red before he blacked out.

o-0-O-0-o

TBC

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A/N: Haha, crappy ending. Not much of a cliff hanger either. I just wanted to finish this chapter and post it. It really frustrated me, writing this piece that is. My first draft was awkward so I decided not to use it even though I wrote five pages for it. I then decided to go with Ed's Point of view which I've been doing a lot lately. Then I realized it was too short (7 pages only) so I decided to alter my first draft and combine it with the second, therefore resulting in the final draft!

Lately I've been really thinking about who I should put for teachers at Hogwarts. I might steal some things from the movie Onmyoji and Kingdom of Heaven, so I'm sorry, but I really like some aspects in those movies.

**IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT!IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT!**I've been thinking about putting in a small religious story arch in this fiction later on. I want to write something to do with religion because Full Metal Alchemist does revolve around the controversy of the subject and I feel implied to write something about it. I don't want to insult anyone's religion (it's probably going to around Catholicism, I'm a Christian too) so I really want feedback on this subject. Reviews or Personal messages or E-mail is okay. I just want to know if I should. Say Yes or No. I'll tally up the results and ask one more time. I'll then mull it over with a cup of hot green tea.

12 pages on Microsoft word!

Also you might have noticed that I said that Winry is 19 and not Ed's age. It's because she is not the Winry from amestris. She is her own person (kinda) with the same appearance as Winry. She was born around 1972. Harry Potter takes place in... umm... 1997 ish. I think, it's in the past though, not present.


	10. Pre Wedding Jitters and Green Eyes

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AN: 'Ello my lovely readers! It's so cool getting so many reviews! Awesomeness! Oh also, if you have questions or want to help my story with constructive criticism, PLEASE leave an e-mail address or log in before reviewing, cause if you don't then I CAN'T REPLY except in the story which makes the author's note too long sometimes. So please? Okay!

First off someone by the name of "…" reviewed my story. Thank you for doing that. And to answer some things, you said I made Ed OOC when I wrote him saying that he doesn't care if other people die. The way that works is he really doesn't care. The only people he really does care about is Alphonse, the Amestris Winry, Pinako, his teacher, people from his past, and children. Some people from the military too although he won't admit it. Otherwise, he doesn't give a damn. He's not a nice guy. He _is _mean. He _is_ violent and crude. The reason he beat up Harry is because he thought Harry would start realizing that he isn't from that dimension, and that's pretty big. He didn't beat up Ron cause Ron wasn't his student yet.

Oh, and yeah, when I wrote about him talking about his trip to Switzerland, he was kind of OOC. Sorry, it's HARD though! Harry has to find out somehow, and I can't keep my audience in the dark all the time until the end. That's why I'm having more Ed's point of view lately.

Also to clear some things up. **Edward does not have automail.**

Yeah, I probably should read the HP series over again. So far I've reread the series 3 times since I've started this fan fiction. Haha! Late nights…. Fleur has a French accent so when she speaks, it's not typos.

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Start:

**Pre Wedding Jitters and Green Eyes**

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"Is he alright?"

"Do you think he'll be okay?"

Edward heard various voices speaking over him. His eyes felt like they were covered with cloth since he couldn't see clearly. Bright little spots popped up every once in awhile to add color to the gray haziness.

"Ugh…" Edward mumbled.

He was in a stage between unconscious and conscious as was aiming for the latter. His mind kept telling his right hand to move, trying to wake himself up. Finally his index finger twitched and Edward slowly felt more control over his body.

He opened his eyes slowly to see a wooden ceiling overhead. After staring at it for a bit, Ed sat up and felt a sharp pang in the back of his head. He noted that he was in his room.

"He's awake!" Ed heard the red headed girl exclaim.

"Brother, are you alright?" Alphonse asked with concern.

"Yeah, I guess. What happened?" he asked grumpily.

"Er…" Ron came into view. "…while we were playing Quidditch, Harry wasn't able to block one of my shots and it… well… hit you…" he said reluctantly.

Edward stared at Ron and then Harry for a moment. He then slapped the Chosen One over the head.

"Brats these days…" he muttered.

Inside Harry's head, although it hurt, the thought of '_I'm not a brat!' _floated along.

"Brother, I hope you don't mind, but I let Mrs. Weasley heal your wound with magic," Alphonse said.

"Ah…I guess it's okay. So, what day is it?"

"Um… July 19th-…"

"WHAT! I've been out for 2 days?" Edward yelled and then proceeded to jumping out of the bed.

"So the midget still has some life in him!" George happily teased.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PEBBLE ERODED BY THE WIND AND SEA SO MUCH THAT IT'S NO LONGER VISIBLE!" Ed shouted while flailing his hands.

Edward continued to rant as he grabbed a towel from his closet and went into the bathroom. The gang heard water splashing a moment later, and assumed that he was taking a shower after not bathing for a couple of days.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Alphonse said to George.

"Of course! I love seeing the midget go off like that!"

They heard garbled screaming from beyond the bathroom door along the lines of "Not short" and "As" and "particle".

o-0-O-0-o

**A Few Days Later…**

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"Do you reckon he's gone a bit nutty?" Ron leaned over and asked Harry.

"Well…"

The two boys were sitting on some chairs that Ron had conjured outside, next to the house. A couple of days had passed since the Quidditch incident, and Bill was busier than ever with his last minute wedding arrangements. The house was pretty much empty at the time. Mrs. Weasley had gone shopping somewhere for a new bread knife, Ginny had flooed to a friend's house, the twins were at there shop, Percy, Mr. Weasley, and Bill were at work, and Charlie had already gone back to Romania.

Ron had recently been taking a liking to using magic whenever he could for even the smallest tasks that would be faster by hand. Ron had been allowed to use magic freely for a while now, but lately he'd been going overboard ("I'll show Fred and George… Yeah… How would _they _like it if I apparate on top of them every five minutes…" he muttered to himself every now and then.)

At the moment Harry and Ron were watching Alphonse, the gnomes, and Crookshanks run around outside. The gnomes were previously chasing the cat, but Alphonse had run up at the last minute to save the cat from the gnome's evil tyranny. It actually was Crookshanks bullying the little guys, but the two kept quiet and didn't tell Al because it was rather entertaining watching a grown man run around with a cat in his hands, and gnomes kicking his shins because he was too timid to kick them off.

"Ah! Please Mr. Gnomes, don't kick me! ACK!"

Harry was laughing so hard he thought his stomach would cramp, but he tried his best to hold it in… in vain.

All of a sudden the wooden front door that led inside the house creaked out. Out stepped Fleur, her sheets of white-gold hair billowing behind her. She looked from side to side frantically for a moment, and then her eyes rested upon Ron

"Oh Ron! 'elp me! I am not sure zat ze tiara your Aunt eez lending me will match ze flowers zat I want!" Fleur said hurriedly with a note of panic.

Ron's eyes had glazed over a bit and he fell into a sort of daze until he realized that she was actually talking to him.

Meanwhile, Fleur had taken out her wand and muttered, "_Orchideous!_'. A small bouquet of a mixture of light pink roses and flowers along with some pale yellow ones appeared from the end of her wand. She picked them up and held then very close to Ron's face.

"Do you zink zese match-…" Fleur raised her wand again and a photograph flew into her hand. It was a picture of the tiara that she was going to wear at her wedding, "zis?"

"Uh…" Ron mumbled incoherently, still dazed by Fleur's sudden presence.

"I mean ze tiara is beautiful, but ze flowers took so long to decide on since I 'ad to 'ave zem match the bridesmaid outfeets! The tiara zough… your muzzer and aunt lent it to me and it iz gorgeous, Goblin-wrought and all," Fleur said rapidly.

"I think they look wonderful together!" Ron said with a lopsided smile on his face.

"Really?"

"Yeah…"

"Zank you so much!" Fleur exclaimed and kissed Ron on the cheek and sped off back into the house.

When the door shut, Ron all of a sudden shuddered and looked at Harry.

"It happened again didn't it?" Ron said a disappointedly.

Harry nodded.

"I mean, I can get used to her veela thing if I know she's coming, but when she just jumps out of the nowhere like that I just…"

"Freeze up?" Harry suggested.

"Yeah! She should wear a badge that says, 'I'm a bloody part-veela so men should be careful when I'm around!' or some warning label like, "Women, please escort your boyfriends/husbands inside the house' or something like that!"

Harry stared at his best mate as Ron continued on about different warning sayings about veelas.

'_They're actually not that funny…' _Harry thought to himself.

"Let's go back in Harry, the sun's starting to set. I don't want to be outside when it's dark," said Ron.

Harry remembered the Daily Prophet articles he had been reading the whole summer. The papers were filled with gruesome stories of murders, and kidnappings. And to quote a certain reporter who was bent of spreading panic and disorder by the name of Lola Greene, "Nobody is safe now."

Recently he had read about how the Patil family was attacked on their vacation to India. Harry knew the Patil twins, and it scared him to find out that one of them (Parvati) had been killed while trying to protect her mother. The mother had survived, but sustained fatal wounds and had later died in a hospital bed at St. Mungo's.

The Longbottom's were also in the papers. Neville and his grandmother were caught in the crossfire of a battle between the Death Eaters and the Smith's. Zacharias Smith, a Hufflepuff in his year, was never his favorite person, but Harry would have never wished Zacharias' parents dead.

Many other classmates he knew through friends and acquaintances were in the Prophet too. The Prewett family, the Macmillian family, the Spinnet family, and the Goldstein family, they were all reported to have people missing or dead.

What scared him and the Weasley family even more was when they read in yesterday's news that almost the entire Fawcett family had been massacred a couple of days ago. The Fawcett family had lived a couple of miles away from the Burrow so lately everybody seemed like they were walking on glass, almost as if they were waiting for an attack.

Bill had even thought about postponing the wedding to a safer time, but Fleur demanded that they have it because she understood the chances of her or Bill dying, and had boldly proclaimed that she wanted to get married before her death, and "eef any Death Eater tries to ruin _my_ wedding I am going to make zem wish zey were never born!" She then said her fiery spirit came from her French blood, which she was apparently rather proud of.

"Yeah, you're right," Harry said to Ron. "Oh Ron, can you…" Harry pointed at the chairs.

"Oh yeah, sorry mate, I forgot. _Locomotor Chair!_" he said and pointed to the two chairs.

The chairs levitated in the air, and when Ron moved his wand, they followed. They continued trailing after him, until they got to the living room inside the house, and Ron set them down next to some wooden chairs that almost looked hand-carved.

"I love magic!" Ron happily declared as he walked up the stairs alongside Harry.

The continued talking for a bit about things like Quidditch and Gobstones, until they reached their shared room.

"You know, I once saw these Gobstones that-…"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" A piercing shriek sounded throughout the halls.

Harry glanced at Ron and then ran towards the scream. The origin of it was on the next floor up, and it had been that blonde witch with pigtails he had seen at the meeting about Envy.

Harry grabbed the doorknob and threw the door open. Ron was right behind him. Both had their wands out, prepared for the worst.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Harry demanded.

He looked at the woman and she was covering her mouth with her hands. She didn't move her eyes, but she extended one of her arms and pointed ahead.

There, a few meters away from her stood two people with bone white masks covering their faces and wearing long, flowing black robes. They had set the walls and floor around them on fire, but they seemed to have no problem standing in it.

"Death Eaters…" Ron whispered in disbelief.

"_AGUAMENTI!_" Harry bellowed and a large jet of water came out of the tip of his wand, in attempts to smother the fire.

The flames continued burning though, licking and incinerating everything in its path.

'_Damn! The fire's waterproof!'_

"Ron! Help!"

"I know! I'm trying!" Ron shouted back at Harry. Ron was waving his wand in an 'X' shape and then a slash, so Harry suspected that he was trying a nonverbal spell.

While they panicked, the Death Eaters began chuckling. Finally one tilted it's head back and let out a full-fledged bark of laughter that reminded him of Sirius' laugh.

"Look at that one Laircitan! He's struggling _so_ hard! I want to keep him, please?" said the shorter of the two. It was apparently female, since the voice was high-pitched. It also reminded him of Umbridge's poisoned honey tone.

"Now, now," said the taller one, a male because of his very deep voice; it had an accent that was unfamiliar to his ears, but that didn't really matter at the time. "You know the Dark Lord wants him for himself," 'Laircitan' said.

"Aw… He's a selfish bastard isn't he? Always getting the best pets..." she said, and then started a chat with the other man

A flare of anger burned inside of Harry.

"I'm not an animal! I'm human!"

The short one that hadn't been named turned around from her conversation with Neco.

"I love it when they struggle so give me the pleasure of spilling your blood!" she shouted maliciously. There was a note of glee in her voice and it scared Harry.

The woman had pulled out a wand and then ran at Harry, forcing him to back away into the hallway to create space between him and the attacker.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Harry yelled, attempting to disarm her before she did any damage to him.

The woman nimbly dodged by jumping up and running on the walls for a short period of time.

"_Mesmordentia!_" she shouted.

The woman then began hopping back and forth since Harry continued to fire an unrelenting barrage of spells and curses at her. Ron was also helping, and was trying to get the timing of her jumps down so he could send a curse when she had an opening.

"_Impedimenta! Impediamenta! Tarantellegra!_" Harry yelled.

"_Concorcious!_" the Death Eater cried back, aiming her spell at Harry. She then twisted her body in mid air as she jumped between the walls, and shouted, "_Gregorsio!_" while pointing her wand at Ron.

"_Incarcerous!_ _Mobilicorpus!"_ Ron shouted as he dodged the jet of purple light.

Ron's last spell had hit the woman, and he waved his wand up, down, and side to side harshly. The woman's body followed the movements of Ron's wand and she smashed in the ceiling floor and walls, repeatedly. Blood began to splatter after a while and left marks on the surfaces where she had been smashed against.

Her partner stood in the doorway. He didn't take out his wand and try to regain control of his comrade's body, he wasn't even trying. Laircitan was standing there, merely observing the situation.

In the moments that the woman wasn't making contact with anything, she tried speaking to him in short bursts of speech.

"Lair-… ci- tan- Help- me-…-_please_!" she had screeched.

"Weaklings don't deserve to live," he said curtly, before apparating away with a pop.

Harry was confused. Why would he leave like that? He wasn't being attacked yet and could have still won the battle. It was only Ron and Harry standing there. Nobody had come to help yet, and they were young.

Ron let the woman out of his grasp, and she fell to the floor in a crumpled heap since she seemed on the verge of dying, and was too weak to fight back now. Her mask had fallen off revealing a slightly aged, pale face surrounded by deep red hair, and her eyes… he recognized them.

They were _his_ eyes. His mother's eyes…

…_Lily's_ eyes.

o-0-O-0-o

**TBC**

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AN: now THAT'S a cliffhanger! Ahaha! Yeah, I'm gonna torture you guys for a bit! It's so much fun!

Please review! It makes me so happy when you guys do! And I even updated pretty quickly this time too! And there's an action scene! Wizard duels are hard to write though. I'm better at hand to hand combat. I actually did a little bit of Tae Kwon Do myself when I was younger, so I actually know what I'm writing about!

Again, please review. Reviews are the only reason I continue to write. If I got like (omg, the valley girl in me has come out), no reviews for a chapter I'd be all depressed.

11 pages. But if I don't count the Author's notes it's 9 full pages.

Review please!

P.S. a small hint. Lily has not come back to life, if any of you were thinking something bad about me when you read the last few lines. I'm not _that_ AU!


	11. Popping and Veritaserum

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A/N: A tidbit about Winry. She was mentioned in this story before I introduced her. She was the blonde witch with pigtails. Winry was present when the Aurors came to get Harry, and she was at the meeting about Envy (she was the one that wouldn't stop laughing). Oh, she's also the girl who screamed in the last chappie. Yeah, I know what you guys are gonna say. "She doesn't have pigtails!" but remember, your memories and experiences are your life, she grew up completely differently and that's why she'll act differently and wear her hair differently.

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Start:

**Popping and Veritaserum**

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"Oh yes, I'm almost done with the dress, when would you like me to send it over or do you want to pick it up yourself?" asked Madam Malkin.

The woman's head was floating in the fire and conversing with Fleur about the bridesmaid gowns.

"Oh, I'll come pick zem up! Oh, I can't wait to see zem!"

"They are lovely," Madam Malkin said.

Suddenly, Fleur felt a tremble in the house, and heard a popping sound. She also smelled smoke that didn't come from the fireplace.

Fleur's eyebrows narrowed. She wondered to herself if they were being attacked.

"I am sorry for being abrupt, but I uh… zink I left ze stove on," Fleur lied, not wanting Madam Malkin to panic.

"Oh! Hurry before the house burns!" Malkin said in a teasing manner, but Fleur was already gone.

The blonde had lifted the hem of her skirt and was running up the staircase rapidly. The higher she got, the louder the yells and cries became. Soon, she could begin making out the sounds to be dueling spells. Fleur whipped her wand out of her robes and gripped it firmly, as she rounded another staircase.

Finally she saw three people come into view. Harry Potter, Bill's brother, and some woman with red hair was lying on the floor, unconscious. A blonde woman with pigtails was hiding behind a door on her left and was peering out cautiously.

Harry and Ron both had their wands pointed directly at the woman, so Fleur followed suit.

"What 'appened?" Fleur demanded harshly.

The Potter turned around (his wand still held at the woman), and said, "Death Eaters, they attacked us and set part of he house on fire."

Fleur widened her eyes; she rushed into the room where the smoke originated from and where the girl was. She said a few hushed words to the woman, and she Apparated away. Fleur then went further into the room, and came back quickly.

"'ow many were zere?" she asked again in the same harsh tone.

"Two. One of them Apparated away when we weren't concentrating on him."

Fleur's eyes widened. She then put on a calm façade.

"Zey were scouts," she said. "We must warn ze rest of ze Weasley family. Ze Death Eater's backup squad will be coming soon. We might 'ave to abandon ze 'ouse."

"What do we do with her?" Ron asked, gesturing at the red haired woman.

"Bind 'er. I will get your family. Wait 'ere, and eef someone comes zat you do not know, Stun zem before zey see you. Lock all ze doors, and if you can, disillusion yourselves," she commanded before Apparating.

There was a lingering silence after Fleur left.

"Well, you heard her," Harry said, breaking the quiet.

Ron still looked a bit out of it. He then shook his head.

"I hate it when that happens!" Ron said irritably.

"Fleur, just now… she sounded so…" Harry began.

"Not veela-ish?" Ron suggested.

"Yeah. It's was weird," Harry said.

"Hm, I wonder if it's her 'French blood'" Ron joked.

"Har har," Harry said dryly.

"Do you know the disillusionment charm?" Ron asked.

"No, but Moody used it on me once when I flew to Grimmauld Place in fifth year," Harry said, but he lowered his head as he remembered that it was Sirius' house.

"Well, so much for that. Can you lock the doors Harry I-… wait, you're still underage aren't you! When you used those spells earlier, do you think he Ministry will… you know, expel you?"

"I doubt it; we were only protecting ourselves from Death Eaters. Also, I don't really care if I go back to Hogwarts or not. I've already told you that."

"Yeah, I know, but Professor Elric is going to be there this year, and he's already giving you private lessons. Alchemy must be important if it was one of Professor Dumbledore's last wishes," Ron prompted.

"I guess I might, it just doesn't seem worth it. I should be spending my time searching for Horcruxes," Harry said, fingering the false Slytherin locket he held with him at all times.

Ron made a weird sound, and he then pointed his wand at the woman and said, "_Incarcerous!_"

"Ron?"

"Yeah"

"This lady… she looks like…"

"Looks like?" Ron asked.

"Well… my mum," Harry said solemnly.

Ron stood there and stared at Harry for a moment.

"But… your mum… she's dead isn't she? Unless that lady is… is she an Inferius? I mean she can't be-… can she? Inferi don't talk and stuff…"

"I don't know… I wish I could talk to Dumbledore about it…" Harry said gently, Dumbledore's white casket and Fawkes' phoenix song still clear in his mind.

Harry suddenly heard a pop.

'_Damn! We forgot to lock the doors!' _Harry thought rapidly.

The sound had come from the floor beneath them. Harry quickly moved inside a room, and Ron levitated the woman's body in behind him.

They left the door cracked a smidge so they could see out of it.

The stairs creaked as the person traveled up them. Whoever it was, he or she was closing in.

Harry jumped out the moment he saw the top of the person's head.

"_Stupefy!_"

"_Protego! Tarantallegra!_" the figure shouted back.

Harry had not expected the opponent to see him, and had no time to protect himself from the spell, so it hit him full blast. He remembered the jinx the attacker used since a Death Eater had used it on Neville when they were in the Department of Mysteries. His legs began to move around uncontrollably, causing him to lose his balance. Even after he fell down, his legs continued moving.

"Potter?" the person said.

Harry heard the door behind him open, and Ron gasping.

"Professor Elric?" Ron said, bewildered.

Harry lifted his head to his chest slightly, and indeed saw the blonde standing at the edge of the staircase with his wand held tightly at his side.

"_Finite Incantatem_," Elric said, pointing his wand at Harry's legs.

Harry felt his legs shudder for a moment before they fell limply onto the floor, back in his control.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked. Harry still hadn't finished his standards because he was too lazy, and found it pointless, but now that Elric was standing in front of him, a fresh wave of fear washed over him. He hoped that the Professor had forgotten about them.

Elric glared at him.

"I live here temporarily for one thing," he said, "and Fleur told me that Death Eaters came. Is that one of them?" he asked, pointing at the body next to Ron.

"Yeah," Ron answered.

The Elric walked over to the body and he gasped slightly. He then turned towards Harry.

"That woman… do you… recognize her?" he asked hesitantly.

Harry thought it was strange that Elric had spoken like that. The Professor usually spoke with a callous tone towards him, and now he seemed almost scared? No… his expression was more horrified than anything else.

_'Perhaps he knew my mum before she died…' _Harry thought.

"Yes, she looks like my mother," Harry said. He then realized he repeated the same phrase twice in a row, and felt a bit unimaginative.

The same horrified look was still attached to Professor Elric's face, and Harry began to feel worried for the man.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked, also noticing the expression.

"I'm fine," he said curtly, going back to his usual stance.

"So what do we do with her?" asked Ron.

"Ron, move her body. Follow me," Elric said.

Ron nodded, and muttered "_Levicorpus_,"

They went down two flights before they went off to the side and into a room. It was Professor Elric room. Harry remembered it from when the Professor was unconscious, and he once had to bring up food for Alphonse because the man wouldn't leave his brother's side when he was bedridden.

They went in, and Ron set the woman down on his bed. The Professor went over to his desk, and pulled out a small bottle. It was filled with a clear liquid that looked like water.

"Sir, is that Veritaserum?" Harry asked.

"Yep. Get out," Elric said, looking at the bottle.

"No! I want to know why she-…"

"Don't question me! GET OUT!" Professor Elric shouted before pointing his wand at them.

Harry suddenly felt something jerking the back of his shirt, and soon he was forcibly dragged out of the room, Ron at his side. They both stumbled and fell when the spell was released.

After the effect wore off, they both got to their feet as fast as they could.

"Hey! What did you do that-…?" Ron began, but was cut off since the door slammed in his face, nearly taking his nose with it.

Harry walked up to the door, determined to force it open with magic if necessary, but Professor Elric's voice called out from past the door.

"Don't you dare try to listen in on this! I made the door Imperturbable, and the room's soundproof! If you try to listen in, I _will_ know, and I _will_ beat both of your-…"

Harry heard another popping noise.

"Oh no you don't!" Mrs. Weasley said warningly. If one foul word comes out of that mouth-…"

Harry heard more pops. Two this time.

"Mum-"

"You aren't-"

"His mum so-"

"You probably shouldn't be-"

"Lecturing him," Fred and George said, alternating on every two or three words.

_Pop!_

Percy came into view.

"What's going on? Fleur came and told me that-…"

_Pop!_

It was Mr. Weasley this time.

"Molly! What on Earth happened? I was looking through some paperwork and then-…"

"Oof!" someone said loudly from the levels below. Footsteps were heard, and Harry felt his heart beat quicken when he saw it was Ginny.

"Phlegm Apparated on top of Sarah, ad told me someone attacked Harry and Ron. I-…"

Two pops.

Bill and Fleur came.

"What-…?"

"WILL YOU ALL JUST STOP APPARATING IN AND ASKING QUESTIONS WITHOUT LOOKING AROUND YOU FIRST!" Harry yelled.

The noise had begun grating against his nerves. It was _pop_, and _pop_ every few seconds and it was driving him mad!

There was quiet in reply to Harry's outburst.

The group heard loud stomps from within the room, and soon the door slammed open revealing a very irritated Professor Elric.

"BE QUIET! I'M TRYING TO WORK HERE!" he yelled at the gang before slamming the door.

A cricket was heard.

"Well, I-… That was very rude!" Percy complained haughtily. "I don't even know why I came back. You lot are all-…"

"Shut it Percy," George said.

"Nobody wants to hear you monologue," said Fred.

"Why I ought to-! Hmph!" Percy said before turning to Mrs. Weasley. "Good day Mother, I'm going to be going back to the office to work on better thi-…"

"Watch out everyone. He's going to start talking about his reports about people who misuse laxative potions and we'll all be trapped listening to-…"

George was interrupted when Percy Apparated back to the Ministry of Magic (Harry assumed) with another _pop_.

"Harry, so what happened?" Ginny asked. "_Fleur_-" Ginny enunciated her name to note that she wasn't calling her Phlegm, "was kind enough to pop by, and tell us you were being attacked-… and nothing else" she added quietly.

"There were two Death eaters. We still have one captive in Professor Elric's room, but the other one got away. Fleur said they were probably scouts and that more will probably be coming later," Harry said quickly, trying to be a curt as possible without being rude. He really wanted to know what was happening with the Death Eater and Elric.

"Hey, what's going on?" someone asked suddenly.

Harry turned and saw Professor Elric's brother holding Crookshanks, coming up the steps.

"I was outside, and then I heard a bunch of popping noises and-…" Alphonse's eyes shifted, scanning all the people standing there. "Where's Brother?" he asked.

"Edward is inside his room, he doesn't want too much noise right now," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Oh. What happened though? I heard something about Death Eaters and-…"

Harry sighed. Repeating yourself three times in about seven minutes was rather annoying.

"Death Eaters. We have a captive. They were probably scouts. We should expect more coming later," Harry said.

"Oh, I see… Well, should we evacuate? Or are we going to stand guard her and put up a fight. If it's the second one, I can g put up some protective charms around the house right now, and-…"

"No, the Death Eaters will break through. I think we should leave," Harry said.

"Ah, but where?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"I… don't know," Harry said, trying to think of a place.

"Oh, I know! Mrs. Weasley, you said something about a Grim place, um… number 12 Grim-something… You said Harry inherited it, remember?" Alphonse said.

"Oh yes! That's perfect! We could-…"

Mrs. Weasley paused when she saw the look on Harry's face.

Harry didn't want to ever set foot into that manor ever again. It was the place where Sirius spent his last years trapped, lingering in the halls like a ghost, unable to free himself. It was too depressing, Harry couldn't.

"I don't want to go in there…" Harry muttered.

Mrs. Weasley cast a sad glance in his direction.

"Well then-"

"Where should we-"

"Go?" Fred and George did that weird twin telepathy thing again.

"We have a flat above our shop, but-"

"It's only built for two."

"We might be able to squeeze in Ginny or something-"

"But it'll be crowded," They said.

"Fine," Harry suddenly stated imperatively.

Every one looked at Harry.

"We'll stay at Grimmauld place. There's no choice," he said.

"Harry…" Ginny said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, I want everyone to be safe," He said.

Mr.Weasley watched the conduct between the two. He then cleared his throat.

"Everyone! Get your valuables, we're going to evacuate!"

"Oh, but all our-…"

"Molly… There's no other way. We have to," Mr. Weasley said soothingly to Mrs. Weasley.

"I know, but… so many years in this house. When we come back, who knows what will be left. You saw what the Death Eaters do to the houses of the ones they attack, I just…"

"It'll be okay, Molly, we'll pull through, we always do," Mr. Weasley said, pulling his wife in for a hug.

Harry felt a bit abashed to have heard that conversation. It was as if he were intruding on something very private and personal. He quickly scuttled away to his room and began throwing all his clothes, socks, robes, textbooks, and such into his two trunks. Hedwig was out hunting, but he had confidence in her to find him.

It took about five minutes, but he was packed and ready to go. Harry crouched down and felt the floorboards under his bed, just to double-check that he hadn't forgotten anything. Ron was next to him, doing similar things, but he had more to pack.

Harry's entire life could be on wheels since he moved around so much, and he never did have anything in his room at his Aunt and Uncle's house, so he was fine with moving out of the Burrow. But Ron… Ron had lived his entire life at the Burrow, and Harry felt bad for him as he saw his best mate solemnly take down the Chudley Cannon posters that he always had up since the day that Harry first saw his house.

"It'll be okay Ron," Harry said, trying to soothe his friend.

"This stain…" Ron said as he fingered an orange marking on the wall," it was from the time when Fred tried to throw Gobstones at me…"

Ron reminisced over a few more things aloud.

"Come on, it's time to go," Harry said

"Yeah…" Ron muttered, as they left the room.

When they were in the hallway Ron began talking again.

"I wonder what's going to happen to the Ghoul upstairs?" he said. "I mean, it might be helpful for once, it could scare some people and-…"

"Are you two ready?" Mrs. Weasley said, checking up on the two boys. Her voice was a bit for high pitched and strained than usual. She was also talking quite rapidly.

They nodded in unison.

"Your wand? You coats?"

Harry and Ron both nodded again.

"Good, we'll be going soon. We're going to be using the Floo Network since some of us can't apparate. Come along, come along, not much time…" Mrs. Weasley said, ushering them down the steps.

Once they got to the living room, Harry could see a large orange red blazing fire in the fire place. The flames licked the mantle, and they fluttered about manically.

"Are we all here?" Mrs. Weasley asked, in the same high-strung voice.

"Brother isn't ready yet, but he said he'll Apparate there when he's ready," Alphonse said.

"Is he going to be alright? What if the-…!"

"It's okay, he can take care of himself," Alphonse assured.

"Okay then," said Mrs. Weasley. "Line up! I'll be going last. Remember to say 'Number 12 Grimmauld Place' _very clearly_, and keep your elbows tucked in!" she reminded them.

"Fred! George! You two first!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Aye aye mother!" Fred said cheerfully.

He grabbed a pinch of the glittering powder, and threw it into the fire. The flames turned a bright emerald green right before he stepped in.

"Number 12, Grimmauld Place!" Fred said

"See you on the other side!" George said and saluted with the hand that wasn't holding onto a small trunk. He dipped his hand into the flowerpot and flung it in. "Number 12 Grimmauld Place!" George shouted.

"Harry, you next!"

Harry stepped forward and grabbed a bit of the powder, he lobbed it in, and then dragged his two rolling trunks and cage into the fire. He couldn't cross his arms over his chest so he opted to keep his arms to his side. It was very uncomfortable, and ashes kept falling into his mouth, but he reminded himself that it was better than flying with Moody.

"Number 12, Grimmauld Place!" Harry said, enunciating every word although soot kept falling into his mouth.

Soon he felt the same suction feeling he had gotten the last time he used the Floo network. He then began spinning rapidly, and he began feeling sick from the whirl of flames and the noise. Harry saw several faces as he continued spinning, but when he saw Fred (or George's) face, he stuck his foot out and landed harshly, but still on his feet.

Harry wobbled a bit, as he shook his head to clear his mind. He felt his glasses, and was relieved to find them still intact.

"Fred, George, I-…"

"Welcome back Master… the filthy half-blooded scum that he is… to our home… regretted by my true Mistress and…"

"Shut up Kreacher," Fred said, obviously annoyed.

"Ah the other young master speaks… the freak of nature, blood traitor…"

"Kreacher, SHUT UP!" Harry said.

Kreacher held his throat, and his mouth moved. When he realized he couldn't speak he threw Harry an angry look, and held up his fingers in a very rude position. He then snapped his fingers and Apparated somewhere else in the house.

"I swear, he thinks we don't hear him muttering!" Harry said angrily.

o-0-O-0-o

**TBC**

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AN: I'm sad… I didn't get as many reviews as I thought I would… T.T… tears. Anyways, please review.

Oh, btw, I got my state testing scores today! Hehe, I got really good grades! On the national comparison, they were all in the high 90's! Strangely enough though, I got a _really _low score (cough 74 cough) for Writing Application. I was all O.O, I mean, I'm writing this fanfic aren't I? Unless Writing Application means something I don't know about…

Oh, the reason Edward is so freaked out about the Death Eater looking like Harry's mom is because it's _like_ Harry's mom came back to life. And you guys know how Ed tried and failed to bring his mom back to life, so he's kinda horrified (that was the only word I could think of).

You guys should feel obligated to review this time! I updated _4 days _after I uploaded the last chapter! That's really fast! AND this is **14 **FREAKING PAGES LONG! **NOT** INCLUDING THE AUTHOR'S NOTE! So **please** review!


	12. Cats and History

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AN: Wow… I moved to tears! Yeah, I'm really sorry for my outburst in my last AN! I was just kinda…. PMSing…. Yeah, girls know… Anywho. At fist I wasn't going to update until like February cause I thought no one reviewed my last chapter and I was pissed cause it was so long and was hard to write, until now…. At midnight… All the **15 plus** reviews came flooding into my email at once… I guess my comp backed it up somehow! So, I'm happy again! I'll try!

Oh, btw, this chapter is about the future teacher of Hogwarts, plus some of the normal plotline too. I wanna introduce the professors so you guys aren't too clueless. Oh yeah, their wands are sometimes not Phoenix tail feather, unicorn hair, or dragon heartstring because they are not all Ollivander wands.

o-0-O-0-o

Sven Freudman was a cold and dangerous man. In the town of Rensfield where he lived, no one dared to speak to him unless spoken to first. Even then they trembled with fear as the words would roll out of his mouth.

He was 6 feet, 5 inches, with dull marble white skin, and dark hair. In addition to looking quite scary, Sven was also a wizard. His wand was 13 inches, willow, and had a core of powdered dragon fang.

He considered being a wizard an honor, and took great pride in telling his mother and father so when he was younger. His parents, who were wealthy muggles (they owned a large chain of Glassware and Antique shops), didn't fully support him of it when he was younger although they loved him, and would often change the subject when their child began speaking of brooms, and magic.

Nowadays as a thirty two year old man, Sven passed his time my loafing around his large inherited manor in a quiet retirement. He was a high-ranking Auror when he was in his 20's, but due to a surprise attack from a vampire when he was traveling through the Transylvanian Forest about 5 years ago, he had indeed become a vampire with that one bite.

After the accident, he was immediately transported to a St. Mungo's branch in Munich, Germany. Fortunately, they were able to extract most of the vampire's saliva (the cause of vampire infections and transformations) and he was told he'd be able to live a normally for the most part, but was told to stay out of sunlight.

However, that's not how things worked out.

Everyone had started to treat him as if he were the plague after the incident. His Head of Office bribed him into retirement by saying that the Ministry would take care of any of his financial situations, and would cover his recurrently ill daughter's medical bill.

Obligated into retirement by his boss, and quite saddened by his once loyal friend's reactions, he turned to his family for comfort.

Sven was once married to a beautiful witch by the name of Madison Fortmire. They lived happily and had two children together… until the vampire bite. Unfortunately, Madison had fled the house the second her husband told her of his condition and had taken their two children with her.

Left all alone, in a large manor with no family, Freudman had become chronically depressed and would often lock himself in his room and not eat for weeks. He also had to deal with frequent urges to kill and the bloodlust that had arisen. Forced to kill an animal every once in awhile to drink blood, he constantly felt disgusted with himself and would always vomit the blood out of his system afterwards.

One night, as the sun fell and the moon shone to it's fullest extent, Sven had woken only to find a regal snowy owl perched in his open window sill, snoozing.

"Ah…" he said as he walked over to the bird.

He reached his hand out and began stroking the bird's feathers gently. Suddenly, overcome with an animalistic desire for blood, he shoved the owl away from himself harshly. The animal flapped it's wings angrily as it stumbled to regain it's balance and clicked it's beak angrily.

Freudman took a few deep calming breaths, and then took to untying the letter that was attached to it's leg. The owl didn't fly away after he opened the envelope, so Sven concluded that whoever sent it needed a reply.

The man unfolded the parchment, and read the bold curling script. His eyes quickly scanned the contents of the letter, and by the time he finished, his hands were trembling. Sven dropped the letter and backed away from it, staring at it cautiously as if it were a howler.

"What in the seven hells…" he mumbled to himself before rushing to pick the parchment back up again.

Rereading the words over and over again he began to smile as he walked throughout his house. His slippers slapped the floor as he meandered through the halls, and he turned a sharp right corner, and entered a long hallway. He entered the second door on his left.

The room held a set of office furniture made of a highly polished and richly grained mahogany wood. Bookshelves lined the walls filled with various tomes, a fireplace sat empty in the middle of the wall with a few plush armchairs surrounding, and a desk topped with a single red candle was located in the corner of the room along with a padded swivel chair.

Sven rushed to the desk and sat on the said chair, setting down the letter. He opened a few drawers and pulled out a bottle of plain black ink, a regal quill of black and gold, an envelope, and one blank sheet of manila parchment.

He wrote two words on it:

"_I accept._"

Freudman folded the paper into three equal parts and slipped it into an envelope and sealed it with melted wax.

Sven was happier than he had been in a long time. He was also fearful, since the letter he had received was from Hogwarts and had asked him to take up the empty post of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

o-0-O-0-o

**A Different Guy now…**

o-0-O-0-o

Braweyn Aithley was one hundred and thirty two years old, and she would be turning one hundred and thirty three next November. When she was younger, she grew up with an empty head and only knew one thing: she was trash.

You see, Braweyn was from a very poor area in Britain. One hundred and twenty five years ago, she had lived with her mother in a small apartment in the inner-city slums of Forse Valley. When Braweyn was seven in 1862, she had come visiting London with Morton, her mother's boyfriend. He had dropped Braweyn off at a small merchant village and told her he'd come get her at 6:00 later that day.

At 6:00 sharp Aithley walked outside, jubilant that she was able to see such great sights, and she sat down on the side of the road and waited for Morton to pick her up.

Ten minutes passed

Twenty…

Thirty…

An Hour…

Two Hours…

When she finally realized that she had been abandoned, it midnight had already passed, and the stars were out; shining, twinkling, and mocking her.

From that day on, she began working all the odd little jobs she could find for someone her age. By the time she was 10, she had saved up exactly 15 pounds, 4 schillings, and a few pence.

One day though, her luck changed. That one day, so long ago, was the day when a teacher from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had visited her, and had given her her letter of Acceptance.

Going to Hogwarts was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Amazed by the sheer power the castle held, and the magic that was in everyone around her including herself never ceased to exist. Going through those seven years was a blur of excitement, happiness, disappointment, anxiety, giddiness, and much more.

After she graduated, her second hand books and robes a thing of the past. Aithley had held a job at Scrivenshill's Quills, until she met up with an intriguing man named Nicholas Flamel who proposed the idea of creating a thing of legend, a myth, a fairytale, the Philosopher's Stone.

o-0-O-0-o

"I am here to apply for the post of Transfiguration Master at Hogwarts," Tenkei Samuru, age 32, said firmly.

"I see…" said McGonagall, still reading Mr. Samuru's resume, "Why should I hire you?"

"Because no one else will fill your former spot," Samuru said with a smirk.

McGonagall frowned at the man's lack of proper respect and manners, but he was right. There was no one to fill her old position. Dumbledore had left specific instructions and people for teachers on his very extensive will, but there was no teacher mentioned to fill the post of Transfiguration. She had, at times begun to wonder if Alchemy (a more primitive form of Transfiguration) was going to replace her old subject, even though it was slower to use, harder to learn, and almost impossible to use in battle.

Tenkei Samuru's resume was very impressive. He had worked with the Japanese branch of the Ministry of Magic, and had a high ranked job as Head of Magical Misusage department, was a first class member of Wizengamont (called Enmakotairo in Eastern cultures), and specialized in human and animal transfiguration. He had moved to the UK a year ago for a reason no one knew.

"I see…" McGonagall mumbled, setting the resume down.

"So, do I get it?" Samuru asked nonchalantly.

"It appears you do, out of default that is…" said McGonagall, trying to make sure his head didn't swell.

Samuru smiled eerily and then got out of his seat. As he stood, he repositioned his cloak and smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles in his long navy robes.

"Good doing business with you," he said wearing the same eerie smile that didn't quite extend to his eyes.

McGonagall said nothing, but nodded as she rose out of her seat too. "Do you want me to show you the quarters you'll be staying in?"

"Ah, no need. I already know the castle by heart," he said before she walked out the door, and down the stairs that led to the gargoyle.

McGonagall once again sat down in the Headmaster's plush, royal purple, high-backed chair. Multiple questions and thoughts were floating through her mind at the moment. The most prominent was…

o-0-O-0-o

In the end Bill and Fleur's wedding had to be postponed. They simply couldn't risk it at the present time no matter how much Fleur protested. After awhile she gave up and began saying how a Christmas wedding would be even more romantic.

Days blew by, one after another. Harry continued reading the Daily Prophet to keep up with the death toll and the MIA's. Ron had slumped into a depression of sorts along with the rest of the Weasley family.

"Ron!"

"What is it Harry?" he asked, alarmed at his friend's tone of voice.

"Here…" Harry said while pointing to an article. "It says that... Seamus Finnigan… he and his mum are…dead…"

No sound.

"Dead?" Ron asked softly, not believing his ears. He remembered all those times when they were in their shared dorm, laughing and joking about all sorts of things, and playing games. Even though they fought once, Seamus had always been a good friend and he was the one that often drew banners for the Gryffindor common room.

"I-I can't believe it…" Ron continued.

"Ron?"

"Yeah," replied the redhead, still distraught over the death of his friend. Harry had told him about all sorts of murders and kidnappings from the Daily Prophet and Ron knew people were dying but… it was _Seamus_… He _knew_ him.

"This probably isn't a good time to ask but…" Harry looked at his fidgeting hands, "will you come with me to visit my mum and dad's graves"

There was another pause.

"Sure, Harry… but don't you want to wait for Hermione? I heard the Healers are working on a new potion to help her. Made by some bloke named Denham and his apprentice, I heard," Ron said.

"Really? We should visit her soon I guess. We've only gone to see her once, I feel bad," said Harry; somewhat surprised that Ron knew something he didn't concerning Hermione.

"I think she'd forgive us," Ron said," but until then, there's nothing we can do. Let's go visit your parent's graves. It's in Godric's Hollow right? Do you think my mum would let us?"

"Probably. She knows this is important to me," said Harry.

In his mind though, he wasn't so sure.

Ron nodded.

"So, when are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow," Harry said. "I thought it'd be nice to go on my birthday," he said with a sort of broken smile.

Ron nodded once more.

"…"

"…"

"So, What do you think happened to that Death Eater?" Ron asked. He had been holding his tongue for days since he understood that it was a bit of a touchy subject, but he had to ask eventually. "Elric wouldn't tell me, so I thought maybe…"

"Nah, he didn't say anything to me either. I-… OW!" Harry yelled.

He hadn't noticed Crookshanks enter the room, and for the second time, the cat dug it's claws deep into Harry's leg.

"Gerroff me you crazy cat!" Harry exclaimed, shaking his legs trying to get the feline off. Ron was holding onto the cat, trying to pull him off.

Surprisingly, Crookshanks suddenly let go, and plodded along to the open door. Harry and Ron watched him cautiously. Suddenly the cat stopped and looked back.

"I think Crookshanks wants us to follow him…" Harry said, not quite sure of himself.

"It's staring at us … Do you think we should?" Ron asked, confused.

"Er, I say… yeah," Harry said, trusting his gut, and the fact that Crookshanks always happened to seem smarter than the average domestic cat.

"Let's go then," Ron said, standing up.

"Mm," Harry said, nodding and following Ron's lead.

o-0-O-0-o

TBC

o-0-O-0-o

AN: Sorry, it was a bit shorter this time. 9 pages. School's starting, and I hope I'll still be able to update at my usual pace. Not much of an ending. Sorry. Please Review anyways! I know Nicholas Flamel is 500 something not 100 something like Aithley. It's part of my story so….

Also for those who are worrying that I'm going to be all about the teachers from now on, you're WRONG! I just wanted to introduce them. Of course there are a few more that I'm going to show the audience when they actually get to Hogwarts. Sorry it's taking such a long time, but I think it's necessary to get Harry to Godric's Hollow and etc before school.

I was really tempted to write an all Ed chapter focusing about some religion aspects (that's why I asked a few chapters earlier), but now that I think about it, it'll probably take up too much time. I really want to get Harry to Hogwarts because I have a LOT in store for him!

I'm thinking about moving this to the Harry Potter section because the main character is Harry and not the FMA characters. Maybe, but I'm lazy.

For my friend's Avatar story, the chapter that **I wrote** for it is going to be posted sometime in the next few days.

Well, please review! The secret of the Death Eater shall be revealed in the next chapter. Review if you want to read it!


	13. don't get too excited

AN: Seiously read the author's note. It's IMPORTANT!!!

o-0-O-0-o

"Damn it. Al, how do you think we should send her back?" Edward Elric said, with a frustrated sigh.

"I don't know brother, you know that we can't open it," Alphonse replied.

The two boys were standing in front of the bars of a prison unit in Azkaban. The Death Eater was inside the cell, and was pacing rapidly. The lights in the area were dim, and the glow from them cast shadows onto the grimy stone floor. Water dripped from a broken pipe somewhere in the long halls, causing an eerie echoing effect.

"Well, we haven't really tried it have we?" Ed replied to his brother, and then pointed to the floor with his wand and muttered a few words. A comfortable-looking plush chair with purple padding appeared, and he sat down.

"That's true, but I don't think we should risk it, brother," Al said.

Edward leaned back and took a deep breath.

"Well, yeah. But my question is, how is he getting them? "

"I don't know. I'm worried about what he'll be able to learn from them. I mean, it's not really from this-"

Al stopped his sentence short and looked to his right side. He had heard footsteps; his brother was already one step ahead of him though.

"What do you want?" Edward said fiercely, not even bothering to turn his body to face the man.

"Ah, as volatile as he said you were…"

Edward's eyes sharpened, and he threw the man a glance.

"So…. Are you new?" Ed said.

The man didn't look pleased.

"What do you mean, Mr. Elric?"

"I'm saying that you must be pretty fresh to have been sent to get me. I'm guessing they offered you a higher position in his ranks? You must have been pretty low, that or you're new," Edward explained as he stood up.

"I guess you were pretty dispensable because…" Edward began walking towards him, his head hanging down, "I do love playing with my prey."

"Wh-what are you-? N-no, no! NO! AHHHHHHHH!!!"

o-0-O-0-o

"I can't believe all Crookshanks wanted was for us to open a can of cat food for him…" Ron said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "And there I was, starting to think that the orange fuzzball might actually be smart!"

o-0-O-0-o

AN: FREAKISHLY IMPORTANT! AND I MEAN IMPORTANT!!! HEY YOU! YEAH YOU! READ THIS!: Okay, yeah I know this is really bad. Short too. But there's a reason. I've been trying to continue on this series for months now but it JUST WON'T COME!!! I just can't do the scene with Godrics hollow Harry's parents graves and stuff, I just can't. I'm sorry, but no. It's not coming to me. So now I have TWO DECISIONS FOR YOU GUYS!!!

I might just stop this series or put it on hiatus until next summer.

Say the word, and I'll skip straight to Hogwarts.

Your choice.


	14. Flames and the Express

A/N: Okay, I feel completely bad. Many asked to hold off and wait for Godric's, but I felt so guilty that I couldn't. I'm skipping it, but I **WILL** have a flashback soon. Also, it's not too bad because I have a bunch of recaps from summer, but not flashbacks 'cause I reeeeaaaally hate writing flashbacks cause I never know what tense to use.

BTW: Thanks Bibliophile! .. To those of you that have no clue what I'm talking about I'll just let you guys wonder in peace. I'll be using one of her characters for this series! Aren't you all excited!

o-0-O-0-o

**START:**

**Flames and the Express**

o-0-O-0-o

"Ron! RON! Are you sure you have all your things?" Mrs. Weasley shouted from outside the train as the Locomotor started up.

"Yes Mum!"

"Are you sure?"

"For the hundredth time, yes! I'm not a kid anymore!"

"I know dear," Mrs. Weasley began walking to follow Ron's head. "You know I worry because I love you…"

"I love you too Mum," he said a quietly. "I'll be alright," Ron said a bit loudly so he could be heard over the train's engines.

"You're growing up so fast…" Molly said with a bit of a sniffle. She had begun to jog a bit to keep up.

"Mum…" Ron said, happy and embarrassed at the same time. His ears turned a bit red at the tops.

"Never mind me, dear. Be careful Ron! You too Harry! You're always welcome at our home!" She shouted, but by the time she finished her sentence, she couldn't maintain the same speed as the train, so she had stopped to catch her breath.

In a matter of seconds the crimson red train, carrying the last hope the world had at peace, had completely left the station, and was turning a corner, out of sight… and out of safety.

o-0-O-0-o

In the train, Ron pulled his head back from the train's open window. His ears were bright red, but he managed to keep his composure as he sat back down.

Harry was watching the two though the dusty window next to him with sadness, guilt, and slight jealousy to some degree. He understood that, that might be the last time Ron will see his Mum for a long time, he might never even see her again if… if Voldemort…

Harry shook his head quickly to brush off that thought.

His guilt was already high enough, so there was no need to add any more negativity. Bad thoughts would not help him defeat Voldemort, and yet Harry couldn't help but think that if he had never met Ron in the first place, on the same train he was in at the moment, Ron might have been kept out of this war, and have a higher chance of surviving. He was tearing a son away from his mother, just like Voldemort had done to him.

Harry looked at Ron intently, and he noticed the red head's eyes had started to water a bit. Harry turned his head away. The shame was just too much to bear at the moment. Watching his best friend break down like that, even silently, frightened him, and at that moment he wished that Hermione was here with him and Ron.

'_She would know what to do…'_ he thought, '_she always has and always will...'_

Harry shook his head again to knock himself out of his self-induced trance.

_'It's your fault she's not with you and Ron. It's your fault she's hurt. It's your fault she's in St. Mungo's_' that little voice said to him in the back of his mind. _'Your fault… it's all _your _fault…'_

_'That's not true! That's not true! No!'_

"No!" Harry said out loud suddenly.

Ron looked up at him, surprised by his sudden outburst, but there was no time to say anything more. The compartment door, which they had locked the moment they were both inside, had begun shaking.

Someone was trying to get in.

Harry's heart skipped a beat, and Ron flinched. The both took out their wands, and hid them in their sleeves, like Professor Elric had told them to.

The blonde man's voice rolled in his head:

'_When you don't know if someone is an enemy or not, always have your wand prepared, but hidden. Do not let him see your wand, or he will think you are going to attack him, and he will attack you even if you're both on the same side, unless that's what you want. People these days are walking on a razor's edge. One wrong move, no matter how small, will set them off. And when that happens, be prepared.'_

Professor Elric's private lessons with him had been few to none over the summer. Elric had told him, subtly of course, that he really had no interest in giving him private lessons, and that he shouldn't act like a "big headed idiot" because he's getting special attention.

This reminded him of Snape and it took all his self control not to attack the man on the spot at times.

However, how many few the lessons might have been, they were all valuable in some sort of aspect. Except for the Standards one of course. Elric had told Harry in their next meeting that he only gave him them because Mrs. Weasley was nagging him about the lack of tutoring sessions.

Professor Elric had taught Harry many things, but not in the books and test sort of way (although he was forced to learn those too). He was taught a combination of street smarts (well Wizarding street smarts), Alchemy basics, and a lot of what Harry would call "PE". What Harry concluded was that he REALLY didn't appreciate Alchemy.

Alchemy was awkward and hard to use. Before he even touched an Alchemy book, he was forced to learn and cram 3 years of Ancient Runes into his brain because he never took the course at Hogwarts (another reason he wished Hermione was better). After days that turned into weeks of not eating or sleeping, he was able to learn all of the runes taught in the missed years, although he forgot more than half of them the very next day because his brain was so exhausted.

Even after a month of grueling and harsh work, the memorization of runes was stopped to introduce him to something known as "Being able to keep yourself alive without your stick" as Professor Elric eloquently named, also known as martial arts though. And even before that, he was forced to start running miles, lifting weights, wearing ankle and wrist braces, and so forth to get himself into shape.

Of course, Harry wasn't really all that bad of since he was a Quidditch player. He could run the mile at a decent rate, and his reflexes were sharp. Overall though, he really was fit, and didn't need the extra muscle training.

And therefore Professor Elric went to Martial Arts. And that wasn't too good for Harry. The first time he had been taught by the man, Elric had literally punched Harry in the face, and left him with a black eye that '_Episkey_ ' couldn't cure. After a few weeks of practicing that, he became decent with fighting, but Harry really didn't like to. As far as he thought, it was just brawling with organized tactics.

After a while of thought he concluded in his mind that if he were to use whatever hand to hand combat that Elric taught him, then wouldn't Voldemort be able to know what's coming since everything was set into patterns? Also if he were to use his own methods, he'd be more unpredictable. And as a result, Harry never practiced.

And at this moment in time, he really wished he had.

The door to the compartment rattled once more.

Harry and Ron could see a faint blurred outline of the person outside and it looked male for the most part due to the height.

"Who is it?" Ron asked sharply, his eyes narrowed.

The shaking subsided suddenly, which somehow relaxed Harry for a moment before, a small **_BANG!_** was heard, and a figure appeared.

"SHOW SOME RESPECT TO YOUR TEACHER!"

"P-Professor Elric?" Harry said bewildered.

"Who were you expecting?! Godzilla?" Professor Elric said sarcastically.

"Uh…" Harry said.

Ron leaned over to Harry.

"What's Godzilla?" he whispered, not wanting Elric to hear, fearing he'd look like an idiot.

"It's a lizard or dinosaur monster thing that someone made up for a movie. It's really famous in the Muggle world," Harry whispered back.

"Why would anyone want to watch a movie about a lizonosaur monster?" A voice said suddenly.

Harry flinched at the voice since it came so abruptly. His attention quickly shifted to the door.

_'I forgot to lock it!_' he thought, his heart beating a hundred miles per minute.

"I say, I think a Plorpus would be better for a movie. They're very photogenic…"

Harry's eyes widened.

It was Luna. Luna Lovegood.

o-0-O-0-o

AN: Ya know, I was originally gonna end it here, but I felt bad.

o-0-O-0-o

"Luna!" Harry exclaimed, highly shocked at the fact that she was on the train. "You're still attending?" he asked, slightly rhetorically.

"Apparently yes… I mean, why wouldn't I? I've still got two years of training left…" she said before letting her mind drift off. She then began intently staring at a spider web in the corner of the window.

Ron followed her gaze, and when he saw the spider that spun the web, he backed away immediately, and was almost on top of Professor Elric who had chosen to sit down as Luna entered the compartment.

"The Express is so empty this year…" Luna said, snapping back into reality from her little dream land. "Where is everybody? I usually have to go through at least 10 compartments before I find one that's empty or has people I know in it. But this year…"

"Loo-… I mean Luna. You _do_ know that V-V…" Ron shuddered, "V-Vol-Voldemort is back… right?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean You-Know-Who? Of course! Daddy says He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is actually a Ringledort that betrayed his clan and went ballistic! Quite fascinating since Ringledorts are so family oriented…"

Professor Elric snorted when he heard her comment, Ron began laughing, and Harry smiled.

It was… pleasant listening to Luna speak. She lived in her own world, untouched by Death Eaters or Dark Marks.

Elric noticed Harry's smile, and raised an eyebrow.

"Where's Ginny? I thought she'd be in here with you guys," Luna asked, ignoring the laughter, apparently not noticing that she had cracked a joke.

"Oh, she's in the bathroom. Something about not being able to brush her hair this morning. Girls… But we were pretty rushed this morning; I didn't even have time to brush my teeth so Mum used her cleaning spell in my mouth…" Ron pulled a face.

There was a moment of silence and then suddenly Luna began laughing as if Ron had just told a funny joke. She continued laughing for quite a long time until she noticed no one else was laughing with her. She slowly quieted down, and began rubbing away her tears of laughter.

"You're so funny Ron!" Luna said airily.

"Huh?" Ron asked, clearly confused.

And then Elric followed Luna's example and began laughing too.

They all stared.

Harry gave Ron the _'What?_' look from across the compartment and was about to open his mouth and say something until…

"Trolley! Trolley!" A loud jolly voice said from beyond the door.

"Hm?" Harry mumbled to himself before standing up, opening the door a crack, and peering out.

Outside, Harry saw the same slightly plump woman that pulled the food trolley throughout the halls of the Hogwarts Express every year. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"Hello! I'd like-…" Harry began.

All of a sudden, a firm hand grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him inside.

Harry turned around and saw Professor Elric's stern face.

"What are you doing?!" Harry whispered fiercely.

"What are _YOU_ doing?!" Professor Elric whispered back.

"It's okay! We can trust her. She _always_ pulls the carts around the Express-…"

"Yes, and Madame Rosmerta_ always_ ran that bar, something about Broomsticks…"

"How do you know about that?" Ron asked.

Elric ignored the red head.

"The point is, even if you know her, you can't trust her. She might be under the Imperius curse? If you buy food from her it might be poisoned and if you even talk to her it'll spell trouble for all of us!" the Professor whispered, trying not to be too loud, fearing that the trolley lady might hear them.

Harry's mouth was ready to spew out words of protest, to say that the blonde shouldn't be so mistrusting, but Harry knew the Professor was right.

He took a deep breath and sat down. Elric saw that Harry was relaxed and thinking rationally again. After a moment more of just watching, he pointed his wand at the door and muttered a spell that Harry recognized to be a locking charm.

"Well, if we aren't going to be moving around the Express, then what are we going to do?" Harry asked, slightly annoyed that he had lost the argument.

Professor Elric looked at Harry.

"Nothing. For now… we wait."

o-0-O-0-o

Back at Grimmauld Place

o-0-O-0-o

"NO!" Winry Carmichael, age 19 yelled as she sat straight up in bed.

Beads of sweat were pouring down her flushed face, and her body was trembling.

"Winry!" a voice yelled. The door rattled and the knob shook. "WINRY! Are you alright? _Alohomora!_"

The door swung open and revealed a very worried Mrs. Weasley. She saw Winry sitting in her bed and rushed over and wrapped her arms around the blonde.

"You're shaking… What happen-…"

"Who screamed?" Another voice like tinkling bells said loudly.

Fleur was at the door, her wand held out. She looked in; shifting her eyes around the room, and saw the two women. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"When I 'eard ze yell, I zought… I zought zat… Never mind. Winry, are you alright?" Fleur said, while putting her wand away.

"Yes… Yes I am. No need to worry. I was… It was just nightmare…"

"Per'aps a premonition? Mrs. Weasley, you said zat Winry 'ad strong divination powers," Fleur suggested.

"No, no, it as just a regular nightmare. Not a vision," Winry said, with a reassuring smile. "I'm alright."

Fleur nodded.

"Good. I'm happy to hear that. Would you like some eggs? You missed breakfast," Mrs. Weasley said, as Fleur left the room since she didn't have anymore business with Winry.

"I did?! Why didn't you wake me up? What time is it?" She asked hurriedly, getting out of bed and trying to comb her hair with her fingers.

"Oh, did you want to see the kids to Hogwarts? I'm sorry. It's just you came back home so late last night and you were sleeping so soundly… I didn't want to…" Mrs. Weasley stopped talking since Winry was staring quite intently at her.

"Home…" Winry whispered. Tears began welling in her eyes.

Mrs. Weasley looked surprised for a moment, and then smiled.

"Yes dear, this is home."

"Thank you…" Winry said, wiping away her tears.

"Dear?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like some breakfast? Porridge and ham? I think I still have some bacon, would you like that too?"

"Yes please!" Winry said happily.

Mrs. Weasley smiled and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

Winry watched as the red head left. When the door clinked shut she started twirling around.

'_Home! I have a home! I'm so happy!_" she thought to herself.

Her dreams had been far from joyful though.

'_That man… That horrid man… One day, I'll _**kill **_him!'_

Winry closed her eyes and she heard screams and the crackling of fire. Images of flames, orange,and hot, pierced her memories and licked her skin. Through out it all she saw **his** face… the one who killed her parents, pale and dark-haired… smirking. The face of a _murderer_, the face of a _demon_, the face of Roy Callahan.

TBC

o-0-O-0-o

A/N: Wow, I totally hate that ending, but I had to have something dramatic… O.o? Anywho, please review. SERIOUSLY, please review. I actually reply to reviews, really, I do. I like long reviews best, so if you can…. Yeah.

I really didn't know what I should have done for an ending though. I just wanted to finish this and post. So… here you go.


	15. Children and the Train Ride

A/N: Hey! ... I wanted to experiment with different points of view besides Harry or Ed. Plus, I know I've added in a lot of new characters lately, but another truth is that one of the reasons behind this story was to experiment with new types of characters in my stories, and I though that it's the same with the Actual Harry Potter so… yeah. I'm also trying some things with Voldie's gang to, but you'll find out about that later… :)

o-0-O-0-o

Time had passed slowly in the compartment. No one had really said anything substantial since the Trolley incident, and now Elric's eyes were closed, Ginny (who had come back from the bathroom about a half hour ago, fully dressed in her robes) was playing chess against Harry, Ron was asleep, his head on his sister's shoulder, and Luna was staring out the windows at the large pastures that were whipping by.

"Harry, it's your turn," Ginny said, whispering since she didn't want to wake Ron.

"Hm?" Harry mumbled, "Sorry, wasn't paying attention."

Ginny eyed the Boy-Who-Lived carefully as he scanned the checkered board and moved his knight sideways and then forward. She narrowed her eyes.

"You just put yourself in checkmate. That's illegal," she said matter-of-factly.

"Oh…"

There was a pause.

"What-… what are you thinking about?" Ginny said, starting up the conversation again.

Lately, Ginny had been seeing Harry's eyes drifting off to a land far away. She was somewhat used to it since Luna did it often, but Luna was Luna, and Ginny expected that from her. But Harry… he was usually so alert and aware, well at least she thought he was. But nowadays when she was in a room with just him and her, it was like she was alone, his eyes… his spirit far, far away.

She wanted to ask him about it, for so long she had wanted to ask him about it. To be able to know, to be able to understand what was on his mind. She might not have felt the same blow Harry had from Voldemort, but she had her scars. She could at the very least, _try _to understand.

And yet, she was hesitant. She was afraid that she might ask at a bad time or word the question the wrong way, and if that happened, she might never know. But this time, she was confident.

_'It's now or never…_' she had thought, determined.

o-0-O-0-o

Harry looked at his girlfriend with a questioning look and met her eyes.

He sighed.

"It's nothing, I was just-…"

"No! It's _not_ nothing! I-…"

"…Wha wuzzat for?" a drowsy voice floated in (AN: read the dialogue out loud or you won't get it).

Ginny looked behind her.

In her surge of emotion, she had stood up and spoke loudly, and as a result, Ron had fallen off her shoulder, and had landed headfirst on the floor. Obviously he was woken up. And now everyone else's eyes were on Harry and Ginny now too, except for Professor Elric. His eyes were still closed.

Ginny held her tongue, and Harry tried to wipe the surprised look off of his face.

They both stared at each other for a second, before Harry cast his gaze downward and Ginny, to her side, arms crossed.

Ron wiped the saliva from the side of his mouth where he had drooled, raised an eyebrow at the two, and then looked to Luna for her opinions.

"…A lover's quarrel?" Luna suggested

Ron shrugged.

"Oi, shouldn't you brats be getting into your robes by now? Professor Elric said.

Harry jumped. He had thought Elric was asleep.

Before he cold react, Ginny spoke.

"That's right. Lune and I'll go outside. You guys change in here," she said somewhat hastily.

The redhead opened the compartment door, and turned around, looking expectedly at Luna. Lovegood followed suit after she pulled her robes from her trunk.

"Be careful!" Ron said as the two girls left.

o-0-O-0-o

Black.

Everything was pitch black. Nothing was in front of her, behind her, near her, or far from her.

Nothing

In fact, she wasn't even sure if _she_ was there. Right after she plunged into this darkness, she had already tried waving her hand in front of her face, only to find that everything was still black. Not a blur, not even a smudge of color to show that she was still there. It defied all logic that could enter her mind.

Dark…

Cold…

Alone…

She once again opened her mouth to try and speak, she would try kicking, to try flailing her arms, to try and prove to herself that she was still alive.

Nothing… For the longest time.

Then…

_**"Come"**_

There were many voices

_**"**Back**"**_

"**_Come_**"

_"_**Back**"

"_To_"

"**_The_**"

With each word a different voice.

**"_Come_**"

"**_Back_**"

With each voice, came a beam of light

_**"To"**_

**_"_**The**_"_**

**_"Surface"_**

The lights came down faster

**_"_Come_"_**

_**"**Come**"**_

_**"**Back**"**_

Faster

**_"_**It**_"_**

_**"Is"**_

**_"Time"_**

Time…

The lights were almost blinding now. Many voices, diverse colors, different sounds flashed in front of her face and entered her ears.

**_"_Come_"_**

_**"**Back**"**_

Deafening…

**"**Come**"**

**"_Back_"**

Blinding

**_"It"_**

_**"Is"**_

_**"**Time**"**_

White.

_**"Come…"**_

o-0-O-0-o

Hermione slowly opened her eyes.

o-0-O-0-o

'_…So in these times of wavering darkness, unsure of who shall prevail, I sit and wonder when the sky will return to blue.'_

Rhett Declan rubbed his eyes and set down his green plumed quill, and blew on the words he had just written; inked words that reflected the light, not yet dry.

After a few moments, Declan closed the red notebook, in which the words were written in. He stretched and put his hands behind his head, before leaning back and causing the chair to sit dangerously on its two back legs.

Heaving a great sigh, he rose to his feet and brushed away the dark hair that had gotten into his equally dark eyes; his skin, a crisp and blatant white that contrasted greatly and seemed to radiate its own light. Lines of wear were etched into his young face, and dark bags surrounded the bottom of his eyes.

_'I'm finally done…_' he thought to himself. "_I'm finally-_...'

Suddenly a loud rapping knock sounded throughout the room.

Rhett jumped at the noise. He had been alone for many days now, too many days; Days that had turned into weeks, that had turned into months, and now, just as the great Seer Alexandra, daughter of the even greater Seer Cassandra, predicted, exactly one year.

_'One year of solitude, one year of loneliness, one year of denying all human contact, all human needs… but it was worth it.'_

At least, it was _going_ to be worth it.

The knocking continued.

"Rhett! Hey Rhett! Open the goddamn door! I know you're awake you little vagina! Come out here! I came all the way from damn America!! Do you know how expensive the f(ahem this is rated T) ing ticket costs? Rhett! _ASS_! Open the fu-… FINALLY!"

A man with sandy blonde hair, dark eyes, and I tanned complexion burst throught the door the moment Declan flipped the multiple locks and opened the door. Another man accompanied him, he was African American. His hair was long and tangled into course dreadlocks, his skin was a deep rich black like night, yet his teeth were surprisingly white, and his eyes were an even more surprising light gray.

"Ah, Otieno, it is good seeing you again," Rhett said, shaking hands with the black man. He then turned to the blonde. "And Garvey, learn some manners. One year has passed, and you still haven't learned any etiquette!"

"Oh, pish posh, who has time for that these days. While you're locked up in your little cabin being Lady Fancy Fingers, I'm off fighting my ass off in the war!"

"What are you saying? Do you want to fight me! You know very well why I had to-..!"

"STOP IT!" Otieno bellowed. His voice echoed and carried, bouncing off the wooden walls. "You two are acting like children! All that time gone and this is how you greet each other?" he said.

His voice had an African accent that was exotic and mellow, and strangely pleasing to listen to. But at the moment it was commanding and almost frightening. The two men shut up, and faced him.

"That's better you bunch of babies (Garvey snorted). Now, I've got important news. Declan, you and I have been sent letters from Hogwarts requesting us as teachers. Do you accept?"

"Wait, _what_?"

"You heard me little man, we've got to get going. Actually it doesn't matter if you accept or not, I already accepted for you. Their school term begins today, and we've got to get there-…"

"Hold up, hold up! You guys teach now?" Garvey asked, clearly surprised.

"_I _teach now?!" Declan exclaimed, equally surprised.

"Yup little man, I-"

"Stop calling me little man! Just because I'm an _inch_ shorter than you doesn't mean I'm a lit-"

"I'm 5 foot 4."

"…"

"You got powned, dude!" Garvey said, laughing.

"Ugh, Americans and their slang…" Otieno complained, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Never mind, but I can't believe you replied to the letter without asking me! And saying _yes_! You know I don't like being around kids, I-.."

"Rhett. Stop complaining. And you are going to whine like a little spoiled brat then argue intelligently with me. You _know_ I couldn't have contacted you before the year was over. That's why I came today. And about you not liking kids, psh, you're a bad liar. Staying in this stupid cabin in the stupid mountains for a year, all by yourself for your little boy. Stop trying to convince yourself that you're something you're not and-..."

"Shut up…" Declan muttered.

He turned around and walked towards the fireplace. He grabbed a small green sack off of the mantle, and loosened the drawstring.

"Fine. I'll teach, just shut up about that. Come on, we'll Floo there," he said darkly, holding the bag out to the other two men.

"About time dude, it's freezing up here! I had to use a warming spell since I thought you lived by the shore. I'm wearing shorts for crying out loud!" Garvey said.

"Smart one," said Otieno sarcastically before grabbing a pinch of the powder. "Garvey, get a fire going."

"Fiiiiiine. Stop bossing me around," he said.

"Hurry up!"

"Okay, okay, no need to get testy," the blonde said irritably as he pulled out his wand from his back pocket. He then pointed to the fire place, but then paused. "Should we get some wood in there? I mean-…"

"Just give us a fire!"

"You know, I don't even think we need a fire for Floo, I-…"

"Shut up and do it!" Otieno roared.

"Fine! _Incendio!_" Garvey said.

Blue fire erupted from the tip of his wand and flew into the fire place. It turned an orangey-red as soon as it touched the hearth, and then began crackling merrily as if someone had started it hours ago.

Otieno threw the powder into the fire. The flames suddenly became an emerald green before he stepped in. The flames licked his pants, and set an eerie cast across the room, the abnormal green was unsettling.

"Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Otieno said clearly before he disappeared.

"Budge up Garvey, you're next," Rhett drawled.

"Urgh! I hate going by Floo though!"

"Just shut up."

Garvey gave Rhett an irritated glance, and then squirmed for a moment.

"Fine then! You win!" he said before angrily grabbing a pinch of the glittering powder and throwing it into the fire which was already green.

He stepped in and said, "Hogwarts!" and disappeared.

Declan muttered darkly to himself, something along the lines of, "My gosh what a whiner…", and then threw in a handful himself and shouted, "Hogwarts!"

o-0-O-0-o

A/N: Ew, I wanted to end here, cause if I continued I'd keep switching scenery and people and crap and that's annoying to read so…? Sooo yeah, you kno what? I am gonna end it here…but damn, I really wanted to add in Ms. Bibliophile's character this chapter…. GAHHHHHH!!!! . fudge

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TBC

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Please Review. Questions, comments, etc. :)

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10 freaking pages. Actually, yeah. Sorry. Took me forever to write... .'', I really wanted to get in Tala... T.T ::sniffles::


	16. Confessions and Change

A/N: sorry, I haven't updated in a while. This chappie's a _decent_ length. Not too short, but not quite long enough for my tastes... Could be longer, but I wanted to post ASAP, cause I was already taking too long.

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Chapter 16:

**Confessions and Change**

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The rain fell in light sprinkles of water that grazed Harry's nose as he traipsed over the damp earth to get to the carriages that would take him to the Hogwarts Castle. Ron, Ginny, and the rest of the gang followed quickly in his footsteps, trying to avoid the splotches of dirt that would cave under their weight.

Professor Elric had gone in a separate direction after they had gotten off of the train. He didn't say where he was going, but Harry guessed there was probably a separate teacher's entrance to the school, just like there was a different gateway into the castle for the first years.

The group was unusually quiet as they trekked, and only stared in awe when they saw a mere amount of 4 carriages waiting, in place of the hundreds that they were used to seeing.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed, but had no choice but to climb into the coach without complaint. Ginny and Ron looked at each other worriedly before they got in, but Luna stayed standing outside in the mist, staring.

"Luna, you should get in. You're getting wet," Ginny said.

Luna continued to look intently into the gray horizon, and made no reply. Ginny opened her mouth and was about to try again, when Luna suddenly turned around and got in also.

"The thestrals look angry," she muttered loudly to nobody in particular.

Harry gave her a quizzical look, and was about to pop his head outside for a moment to see what she meant when-...

_**CRASH!**_

The echoes of a deafening collision lingered in the air like the smell of a bitter lingering perfume. The hair on the nape of Harry's neck stood on end from the abrupt shock.

"What was that?" Ron said sharply.

"I don't know," said Harry.

Silence.

"D-Do you reckon we ought to check it out? I mean what if it's just another student, or-…" Harry began, trying to be optimistic.

"Harry! Be realistic!" Ginny said hotly. "You of all people should-..."she cut herself off, and held her tonguer for a moment, searching for the right words. "What I mean is...It could be a dementor or Death Eater, and for all we know it could be a werewolf or something! We've got to get out of here!"

"Ginny, calm down, you're being hysterical. Do you really think Hogwarts doesn't have security charms and spells placed around the castle?" Ron asked, exasperated, sounding oddly like Hermione.

Harry made no comment.

"Of course I know that! It's just… the Death Eaters have broken through them before… and when that happened -…" she paused, "I don't want that to happen again!" Ginny said strongly.

Dumbledore's death continued to loom greatly upon her heart.

Harry's face relaxed, and a worried expression took over his features. He was about to lean over and give her a hug, but another explosion rang in their ears, much closer this time around.

o-0-O-0-o

_Such a long time ago… _

_The smoldering ashes flitting about, polluting the skies with their fiery glow…_

_Like fireflies, skitting about, only to die in moments few…_

o-0-O-0-o

_**Another Time, another Place**_

o-0-O-0-o

That night I watched _them_ come into my house. _They _first knocked on the door. Daddy told me to go get it since he was expecting guests. I was washing vegetables for dinner at that time. I heard him call me and I turned off the faucet, and hopped off my stool. Mommy had a fever. Daddy told me she was sick. I didn't understand.

That night, I unlatched the lock, and opened the door. I saw a woman, a beautiful woman. Another came in. He, oddly enough, had long green hair. He looked at me, and my heart stopped. Smiling, I waved politely. He merely smirked, and continued walking forward.

Daddy hadn't had guests for a long time, so I was fascinated by these strange and exotic people. Even the people that I did see on occasion, like the postman, or the doctor, didn't look like they did.

Mysterious

Alluring

...Dangerous...?

I watched them with wide eyes, and only left the guest room when Daddy told me to fetch tea for the lady and man. I went to the kitchen and filled a pot with water, and let it sit on the stove to boil. When the kettle whistled, I took the pot off, but accidentally burned my hand when I had reached across the stove to turn it off. I put the kettle down and turned on the sink to rinse the burn with cold water.

When I looked up, I saw a man. A glutton of a man, staring at me through the glass.

I screamed.

Frightened, I ran to the guest room. When I reached the doorway, I clasped the knob firmly and twisted. When the door opened, something warm splashed across my face. Puzzled, I touched my face with my trembling hands, fearing the worst.

This smell… this coppery smell.

A metallic taste filled my mouth.

When I put my hands in front of myself, I saw red.

Blood red.

o-0-O-0-o

"Reckon we should have our wands out?" Ron stated as the carriage went over another pothole.

The group lurched forward, as the thestrals continued clopping away down the road. Harry nodded. He had already been one step ahead though; his wand clenched in his hand.

Harry looked out the window despite the light rain and saw the gates of Hogwarts looming closer and closer. The stone boar statues with wings were the same as always which gave Harry some happiness for a split second as he reminisced about his first time entering Hogwarts, although the first years went through a different way.

'_At least this hasn't changed…_' he thought with somewhat of a bitter smile.

o-0-O-0-o

"Elric."

"McGonagall."

The two stood at the doorstep of a hidden entryway near the back of the school. Old stone pillars held up a canopy of sorts that kept the rain from Edward's eyes as he stared straight into the woman's wizened face. Ivy crawled over the cobbled walls, flourishing. Other various plant life grew alongside it adding color that currently couldn't be seen due to the overhanging mist.

There was silence. Elric was about to open his mouth, when McGonagall stepped back and opened the door wide enough for the blonde to enter.

"Dry yourself off. I don't want you dripping water in the halls," she said curtly before turning around and walking away.

Edward scowled slightly and muttered profanities under his breath. He then lightly clapped his hands together and placed them on his chest. A soft blue light was emitted for a moment before it died down.

He walked through the door with his closed freshly pressed and dried.

o-0-O-0-o

"Well… This is… different…" Harry commented, quite perplexed.

What perplexed him was that instead of four long tables with dozens of rectangular benches at each, he saw only one. There was a banner at the foot of it with the entire Hogwarts crest bared proudly.

_'The Lion, the Badger, the Raven, the_ Snake'

"Different?" Ron said, "Different?!" His voice became a tone higher. "Different is an UNDERSTATEMENT! This—this is downright—"

"I think I rather like this arrangement…" Luna said softly from behind Harry. "Now I can actually sit with other people at lunch!" she said happily.

Harry rubbed his forearm, uneasily. A wave of hot shame and pity washed over him.

_'Luna's a good kid. She _should_ have friends.' _

"What do you mean you like it? This is terrible! What about House pride, what about—"

Harry gave Ron a hard look.

The redhead saw it and quieted down. He then sat down on one of the benches, and declared that he could eat an entire hippogriff with a kneazle on the side. Luna gave a genuine smile, and sat down next to Ginny who had seen the interaction, but had chosen that it was not her place to speak. Harry managed to crack a weak smile for show.

o-0-O-0-o

Somewhere in the distance, Crookshanks sneezed. (Can cats even sneeze?)

o-0-O-0-o

Harry's thoughts didn't weigh too heavily on the matter of Ron's ignorance though. The most prominent thing that he noticed besides the seating arrangements, was the fact that none of the professors were present at the teacher's table up front.

'_Did they choose not to come back…? Or maybe they just…'_

After a while, Harry began wondering if he and the gang were the only ones who returned to Hogwarts.

It was a strange thought though. Whenever Harry envisioned Hogwarts he would see children and teens laughing, running in the hallways with Filch at their heelswith Mrs. Norris at his, girls gossiping, pranks being pulled, Peeves weaving in and out of classrooms causing a ruckus and throwing broken bits of chalk. But now—Harry scanned the enormous Great Hall. Empty… all… empty. Even Peeves, the poltergeist, was absent.

One or two minutes passed with Harry merely staring at the random star formations in the ceiling, waiting for the teachers to (hopefully) arrive.

All of a sudden, Harry heard a loud clamber and noise from near the raised area. He scanned the stage looking for a sign of disturbance, when he suddenly noticed that the Sorting Hat was sitting proudly on a tall wooden stool as usual, where it had not been when Harry's arrived.

'_When did—how… That wasn't there when we…'_

Thoughts raced through the 17 year old's head.

If the sorting hat was there, then that meant there were people to sort, which also meant that new people had come to Hogwarts this year, which meant…

'_How—…_'

"GOOD AFTERNOOOOOOON HOGWARTS! MY NEW HOME SWEET HOME!" a very loud voice hollered.

…New students.

o-0-O-0-o

**Back to that other story**

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"I remember vomiting afterwards. I looked up and my father was dead, flopped onto the coffee table like he was simply a rubber doll. His body was cut in half diagonally from his shoulder to his hip. His entrails spilled out of the gash, and the thing I remembered the most was the squelching sound they made as they slipped out of him," Tala paused and took a deep shuddering breath.

"The carpet was soaked with blood. I have never seen that much blood in my life. I ran to my parents' room. I heard talking. I opened the door and I saw the woman's fingers extend and slit my mother's throat. I—…" she paused before anymore words would come out of her mouth.

There was an uneasy silence. Through the screen, Tala could not see the man's face, but his silhouette verified that someone was there.

"You have had much sadness in your life, but what you have asked me to forgive, I cannot," He started. "Your bitterness is great, but you must control it. One death does that equal another. Revenge will never satisfy. It only acts as a narcotic to lure you in and tempt with its sweet poison. Don't let your anger have power over you, you must reign it back and show that you are the one in control. If you act out on your sorrow, you are merely letting the darkness in your heart win."

"…Thank you Father," she said hesitantly. "But you see, I'm not asking for your forgiveness. My purpose was merely to have someone tell a certain Mr. Elric that I was here, and am alive."

A glint flashed in her eyes.

"What I am setting out to do— my goal— is to stop _him_ no matter the cost. I am planning to meet him in hell after I am finished."

o-0-O-0-o

TBC

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Yes, I do admit, I accidentally made Bibliophile's character a teensy bit, slightly, a tad mary sue… I dunno.

Really, any young female character is counted as a Mary Sue these days unless she's pointedly made fun of and ridiculed or labeled a scene kid or a fashion whore or something. I tried.

Don't kill me. There will NEVER be another retelling of someone's past like that again. I think I burned out my eyes typing it 'cause it sounds so stereotypical. But I wanted to base it off of those confession thingies they have in catholic churches (I dunno, I'm Christian, not catholic, correct me if I'm wrong) like the ones I saw in Sin City (the movie).

The way I have her tell the story though, it really isn't fake. The way I based her hesitancy, her choice of words, her notice and remembrance of minor details… it's in the same style as my friends voice when she told me about something very personal. So please don't think along the lines of, "Oh my gosh, Tala is SUCH a mary sue, I mean, she has the 'tragic past' and the 'vengence' etc etc." But please do notice that I have tried my best.

Sorry if I screwed her over Bibliophile, she'll get more into character later. I just wanted a dramatic way to introduce her .''

So blah.

Yeah, nine pages on Microsoft word

Sorry, I haven't updated lately. Busy. Boy trouble, etc xD

And yes, I used the word 'happen' like… twice in the same sentence, please forgive. .''


	17. New Faces and Singing Hats

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A/N:

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It's been a while since I have updated. Read the previous chapter, and then this one so it'll make more sense.

Have fun reading, please review

If this comes out with super big font, i'm sorry. my comp is being weird.

(1) Couldn't help it, I had to add some Sirius-ey action somewhere even though the hat would never say something like that…

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Chapter 17:

New Faces and Singing Hats

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The rain steadily fell upon the grounds. The sprinkle of occasional droplets soon turned into sheets of water that poured out of the heavens like a waterfall. From the exterior of the castle, bright lights glowed with a wondrous light that beckoned warmth and shelter from the harsh conditions. The rain droplets splashed against the glass windows that sealed the school from the world outside and created a rapid tapping sound similar to thousands of drums playing simultaneously.

On the inside of the stronghold, however, a black haired boy was frozen in awe and wonder. He dared not turn to see who had shouted so loudly, and that is where our story begins…

o-0-O-0-o

"GOOD AFTERNOOOOOOON HOGWARTS! MY NEW HOME SWEET HOME!"

"Shut up Branton! Don't make such a scene you stupid idiot!" Another voice called after the first loud shout.

Harry heard a whack that landed solidly.

"Oooow! You don't have to be so hurtful! You're horrible!"

"SHUT U-"

"...oh my gosh… I _so_ don't know you…" a new voice said coolly.

"What do you mean by that?!"

"Will you two quiet down before I beat your bloody arses to the Republic of China and back!"

"Is it even called the Republic of China?"

"Hey! Do you have something against the Chinese!"

"What?! When did I say that! Don't just assume things like tha-"

The petty squabbles continued. Harry and the gang merely stared. Luna took out the Quibbler from beneath her robes, and began reading. Harry wondered where Professor McGonagall was.

The noise level continued escalating.

It was at this point where Harry's head started to ache from the continuous racket.

'_Where are the teachers?!_' he thought fiercely.

Another minute or two passed, with the seniors doing nothing but stare. Some had moved on to better topics such as seeing who could summon the most sugar cubes in a minute, or who could turn their eyebrows pink the fastest. Harry was about to raise his wand and just perform a silencing charm on the first years, but his wand was halted when someone roared from behind him:

"**_SILENCE_**!"

Obviously someone used '_Sonorus' _

'_About time…_' Harry thought.

At once the talking ceased, and the children slowly turned to face the point where the yell originated. A few held sheepish grins on their faces, some were apologetic, some worried, but a couple in particular held smirks that were on par with the 'blonde ferret'.

Harry's head also swiveled. From behind him, entering the Great Hall was a tall pale man that Harry had never seen before. The man's was chiseled with delicate features, almost feminine, but his eyes were sharp and hard.

After Harry's eyes scanned his, he noticed the presence of the others that followed the pale one in. At first he only saw two more people, a woman and then another man. But soon he realized an entire fleet of people he had never met before were piling into the Great Hall.

One by one they ascended into the Hall through the grand double doors and walked towards the front of the room. Harry could barely keep up.

_'One, two, six, seven, nine, ten…' _he counted

The Chosen One threw a questioning look, but Ginny could only reply back with a shrug that showed she knew no more about the situation than he had.

"Oi, mate," Ron whispered, leaning towards him, "Did Elric warn you about all these… people coming?"

A stern look crossed Harry's face, as he tried to recollect his memories.

"Well, I think I remember him saying something about new teachers, but I didn't think it'd be to this extent. I mean, I thought one new professor would already be enough. Especially since there are almost no students left at Hogwarts or new students except for those kids," Harry whispered, gesturing towards the scrubs already up front, who, for the most part, were looking awkward and uncomfortable with so many new faces and no one to introduce them.

Ron nodded, and went back to his original position. Harry also continued to eye the ones he suspected were new professors, walking down the aisle. While watching them, his eyes crossed with one of them.

It was a woman. She had long dark brown hair, and was wearing a set of dark red robes that looked quite costly. Harry couldn't tell what color her eyes were from where he was sitting. But whatever color they were, the woman's eyes narrowed as they met his bright green ones. Seeing that small gesture alerted Harry's instincts to raise his guard.

There was something about her that he didn't like.

Harry brushed the thought off for now. He needed to check out the others, and with so many late arrivals, there was no time to dawdle on a single person.

Other individuals attracted his attention soon enough. There was a man, even taller than the first one he saw walking down the aisle. This man, his height aside, looked quite normal except for the fact that there was a gleaming mask set on his face, silver, with facial features such as a nose and lips formed on the metal that created the frame of a very handsome face.

Another man held a wild look to him, although he wore the standard black wizard robes. Dreadlocks were formed in his hair, and there were brightly colored feather hanging from headband. He tilted his head back and laughed with much gusto although it turned into a sort of cackle near the end.

The one who had made him laugh was a blonde man, of average height and weight that stood next to him, chattering about who-knows-what. Another tall man with black hair stood in the middle of the two. He reminded Harry of the first man he had seen except this ones' eyes were softer, and almost had a sorrowful curve to them.

There were others, but Harry didn't have much time to give them a glance since Luna had poked him (hard) in the shoulder. Harry was about to give a grunt of annoyance, until he saw she was pointing at the Sorting Hat.

A tear in its brim had opened… and it began to sing.

_From many many years ago_

_Our great founders, four_

_Decided to open a new sort school_

_For wizards, rich or poor._

_The founders had their differences_

_Though best of friends they were_

_So they decided to single out their pupils_

_Into houses, so they were sure._

_Intelligent Ravenclaw had chosen those_

_Wary of knowledge new and old _

_Daring Gryffindor picked the ones _

_Who were valiant, brave, and bold._

_Pureblooded Slytherin desired ones_

_Who were cunning and ambitious_

_Gentle Hufflepuff decided to take them all_

_If they were honest and industrious_

_Thus Hogwarts School remained afloat_

_The four thought their hardships gone_

_However they were mistaken_

_Soon a sorry tale begun._

_Curses and arguments_

_Despairing ladies and gents_

_They continued fighting and bickering until_

_Slytherin had turned absent._

_Saddened by his departure_

_Though glad the quarreling ceased_

_What they didn't know was that Slytherin_

_Had left them with a beast_

_The monster lay quiet and hidden_

_Centuries had passed by_

_Until the creature began attacking_

_Under command of crimson eyes_

_A hero rose among the red_

_And fought the beast with nerve_

_And so the beast fell dead_

_And the snake it could no longer serve_

_However, these acts of terror,_

_The numbers of naïve minds corrupt,_

_Are nothing compared to_

_The era that has but to come._

_Dark times have overcome the world_

_It has only just begun_

_So please save your bitter feelings_

_For the times that have yet to come._

_Be warned I say,_

_Keep a cautious ware,_

_Since a naïve mind can_

_turn a Good eye blind._

_But do not gloom, there is hope_

_A bright light in the dark_

_That tells us the most we can do_

_Is maintain a bite worse than our bark.(1)_

_New faces have arrived this year_

_Come and past_

_New and old _

_First and last_

_Let us bind together_

_Kin and kin_

_Let's fight together _

_For then we will win_

_Pay heed to, the advice I have given_

_And now let the Sorting begin…_

Harry was speechless as the song ended. Teeth gritted, he clapped his hands together multiple times, trying to ignore the fact that part of the song was blatantly about him. The sound from them rang in the near empty room, hollow, and sad. Ron grimaced, and followed his friend's lead. Soon a louder, and louder applause rang throughout the hall. Ginny, Luna, the first years, and even some of the teachers had joined in, creating a crescendo of noise.

The hat, although inanimate, looked smug for the briefest moment before Professor McGonagall suddenly appeared (Harry wouldn't have noticed, if Ginny had not pointed her out). He noted that her bottle green robes were torn slightly, and she seemed slightly out of breath.

Harry's eyes narrowed with suspicion. About the table, his friends shared the same expression.

Something happened… Something bad…

…But what?

o-0-O-0-o

"Arrankar, Nuri!" Professor McGonagall said loudly.

A wiry, almost scrawny girl came forward and sat on the aged stool. McGonagall walked over (with a slight limp that Harry barely caught) and placed the hat on her head. A second or two after she had set it down, the hat cried out:

"RAVENCLAW!"

It was then that Harry realized something. Where would the first years sit? There was only one table, so would it even matter if they were sorted? What of their dormitories? What would happen?

Surprisingly, the girl did not make a motion to go down the platform and sit with the ones who were already sorted so many years ago. Instead, she merely stood back up and stood on the opposite side of the stage.

"Bittel, Rowena!"

A tall, athletic sort of girl sauntered from the crowd to the seat. An air of confidence came with her as she tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder and threw a sly smile to a pale, handsome boy who was standing by himself, away from the rest of the first years.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry clapped, a bit unenthusiastically.

"Branton, Taite"

The noisy and loud blonde that had shouted so loudly earlier took large steps while walking, a stupid-looking grin on his face the entire time.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Erwen, Nathaniel!"

A large, dark boy shuffled his way to the hat.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Lochner, Lawliet!"

A thin teen with pale skin and messy black hair was sitting on the floor with his weight on the balls of his feet. Hearing his name, he stood, and walked to the stool with a noticeable slouch and sat strangely on it.

"RAVENCLAW!"

o-0-O-0-o

For a while the names continued, and Harry soon grew bored of clapping after every name. Of course it was interesting to observe the children (although some of them looked closer to his age than 11) since there _had_ to be some special sort of reason that they would come in midst of a war.

Perhaps these first years wanted glory? Perhaps they thought they'd win fame for daring to come to Hogwarts at this time? Perhaps they were forced? Or perhaps… an alternative reason?

Something was strange. No normal child from a normal family would come at this time.

o-0-O-0-o

"Moon, Mordecai!"

A dark-haired girl stepped forward, looking strangely calm.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

o-0-O-0-o

"Well, the sorting this year is rather strange, is it not?" a cool voice suddenly said.

Harry jumped in his seat, and whipped around quickly only to find himself going face first into something cold and unpleasant.

"Sir Nicholas!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Nearly Headless Nick!" Ron said quite loudly.

"You have no need to shout that… nickname of mine so loudly, m' dear boy. You do know I am quite unfond of it. I am nobility you know," the ghost said, haughtily.

"Er, '_was_', don't you mean?" Ron said bluntly.

A sour look crossed Sir Nicholas' face.

"Well you don't have to rub it in my face!" he said, and sank back into the table to god knows where.

"Do you reckon he went to the kitchens?"

o-0-O-0-o

"Slade, Haden!"

A thin, sickly-looking teen trudged towards Professor McGonagall. She—no _he_ had dark brown hair, but even from where Harry was sitting, it was quite obvious that there were already white streaks throughout it. The boy coughed a bit before the hat was placed on him.

After a while of silence, the hat cried out "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Slade, Halyn!"

A person with long brown hair and a strong aura marched up to the hat. Before it even touched her head, it shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

'_She looks promising…'_ Harry contemplated

Then another thought crossed his mind.

Quidditch.

What would become of the Quidditch House Teams?

Of course, this was one of the last things he had floating in his head in the recent times. Who had time to ponder about trivial sports when people were _dying_ all around? It almost sickened him that he was even thinking about this sort of thing while everyone else was suffering from mortal terrors and pains.

Guilt coursed through his veins, and soon his face felt hot. Harry lowered his head, and tried to cover his face without looking too conspicuous.

"Vesey, Malachai!"

The pale, dark-haired boy that was standing by himself walked over to the chair, and coolly sat down. His face was serious and collected, not a single sign of worry or anxiety.

'_How strange…'_

"RAV—GRYFF —SLYTHERIN!" the hat cried out.

Harry frowned. This was the first time that he had ever heard the sorting hat stutter.

'_How… strange…' _Harry thought.

o-0-O-0-o

An abrupt ending, sorry. I'm trying to stay more focused in my writings, but I promise there will not be another chapter like this one that overloads you with information. But don't worry, I'll always recap the new characters. The main point of this chapter was to impress upon the audience about how many new teachers are here, and in the next chappie it'll explain why and so forth, how the housing will work, Quidditch, etc, the works.

Sorry about not updating in a long time. I've actually had this chapter finished since late January, but I couldn't figure out a suitable ending. Alas, I am just going to slap it on ff dot net and hope you guys don't eat me

And please don't review only to tell me 'Update soon'. I appreciate the fact that you're reviewing, but could you put some more detail in?

I'll try to update faster, but state testing, and a million projects are coming up in the next month or two. I'll try, but no guarantees.

Please Review

PS Hope you liked the sorting hat song. Please **actually** read it. I put a lot of time into it. :

12 pages on Word not including ANs. i wanna try to make the next one 14


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